Britain announces that the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement will come into effect by December 15

The British Government announced on Thursday that its agreement to join Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will enter into effect by December 15th this year, after receiving the final ratification needed.

CPTPP, or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, is a free-trade agreement signed in 2018 by 11 countries: Australia, Brunei (Burma), Canada, Chile, Japan Malaysia, Mexico New Zealand, Peru Singapore, Vietnam. The UK is the sole European member of CPTPP, and it was the first country to join the agreement since its creation.

The UK signed a formal accession agreement in July 2023, but it still needed to be ratified by the government of the country and six other members.

Britain announced that Peru was the sixth country after Japan, Singapore Chile, New Zealand, and Vietnam to ratify its terms of accession. The agreement will enter into force this year with these members, and then with the rest of them as they ratify.

In a press release, Minister of State for Trade Policy Douglas Alexander stated that this was good news for UK business. They are now closer to taking advantage of the benefits of our membership in CPTPP.

The CPTPP has strict rules on competition, intellectual property, and foreign company protection.

The British government stated that more than 99% (or around $2.65 billion) of the current UK exports to CPTPP countries would be free from tariffs once the agreement is implemented. This could help boost the UK's economy by as much as 2 billion pounds annually by 2040. ($1 = 0.7583 pound) (Reporting and editing by Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan)

(source: Reuters)