Regulation of Special Economic Zones Through Regional Trade Agreements: Confronting the Synergy Issue

Abstract

ABSTRACT Special economic zones (SEZs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs) are frequently used by states as policy tools to promote economic development. As SEZs and RTAs overlap in geographical coverage and regulation areas and are implemented in parallel, they could create profound synergies. As there is no specialized international legal framework for SEZ regulation, and national SEZ laws seldom touch upon the synergy issue, SEZ regulation is largely left to RTAs at the international level. Yet, existing SEZ-related provisions in RTAs almost exclusively focus on trade in goods and appear insufficient in addressing the synergy issue—especially ‘new synergies’ created by ‘advanced SEZs’ and ‘deep RTAs’. To properly address the synergy issue, states should treat SEZ policy-making and RTA rule-making in a coordinated way and consider adopting a regional or multilateral approach in SEZ regulation.