Talks conclude for UK to become the first European country to join the CPTPP

Negotiations conclude for UK to join Asia-Pacific trade agreement. Photo / File

Talks have concluded for the United Kingdom to become the first European country to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The fifth round of negotiations have wrapped up in Vietnam. A process will now get under way for the UK to formally be signed up to the trade agreement, which New Zealand is a part of alongside Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

“Our accession to CPTPP sends a powerful signal that the UK is open for business and using our post-Brexit freedoms to reach out to new markets, including in the Asia Pacific region, and grow our economy,” UK business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch said.

“Joining this influential trade bloc will help us to shape the rules of global trade with like-minded nations, and work even closer together on our shared priorities of prosperity, security and free and fair trade.”

The agreement complements the recently signed UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to come into force later this year.

“The UK and New Zealand have a long history of friendship, prosperity and partnership, with total trade in goods and services between the countries worth NZ$4.9 billion in 2022,” British High Commissioner to New Zealand Iona Thomas said.

“The CPTPP Agreement reaffirms this partnership, complementing and reinforcing the enhanced bilateral trade agreement we have already signed.”

The commission said the UK’s inclusion in the CPTPP would also “help ensure shared UK-NZ priorities in maintaining the rules-based international trading system, championing the role of free and fair trade and supporting innovation and sustainability”.

CPTPP is the fastest-growing trading bloc in the world with a population of more than 500 million people and accounting for 12 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021.

It will have a total GDP of NZ$21 trillion and increase to cover 15 per cent of global GDP once the UK completes accession.

The British High Commission said that as the fifth largest economy in the world by GDP in 2021, and with a market of 67 million consumers, the UK’s membership of CPTPP will “open an attractive market” for all member states.

New Zealand has been a part of what was initially the Trans-Pacific Partnership since 2018.