London (EFE).- The British Government announced today that the United Kingdom will join the Progressive and Comprehensive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade network established in 2018 that will now group 12 countries with Joint GDP of about 12.5 trillion euros.
After 21 months of negotiations, the Executive of the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has closed what it considers the “biggest trade agreement since Brexit”, which will force London to comply with health and food standards of the trans-Pacific trade bloc.
The United Kingdom is the first country to join the original group of eleven States from both sides of the Pacific that sealed the pact: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada.
“We are an open and free-trade nation, and this deal demonstrates the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms,” Sunak said in a statement.
“As part of the CPTPP, the United Kingdom is now in a privileged position in the global economy that allows it to take advantage of opportunities to create jobs, growth and innovation”, added the head of Government.
All in all, the projections that the British Executive published at the beginning of the negotiations point to a limited economic boost, of 0.08% of the gross domestic product (GDP), partly because London already has bilateral agreements with nine members of the CPTPP .
The Government detailed today that the benefit for the United Kingdom of joining the transpacific commercial network, which represents 500 million consumers and close to 15% of global GDP, will be 1,800 million pounds (2,040 million euros) in the “long term”.
Currently, London already exports goods worth 60,500 million pounds (68,650 million euros) each year to the countries of the commercial bloc, according to the latest official data, which correspond to the twelve months prior to September 2022.
The CPTPP agreement ensures that 99% of goods exported from British territory will be eligible for a zero-tariff regime, including products such as cars, machinery, cheese, chocolate, gin and whiskey.
“Our leading service industry will also benefit from reduced red tape and increased access to the growing Pacific markets, which have an appetite for high-quality UK products and services,” said the British Executive.
London stresses at the same time that the terms of entry to the CPTPP protect “vital industries and entities” for the country “such as agriculture and public health services”, while ensuring that it maintains the “high standards of protection for animals and food safety” of the United Kingdom.
The Government also states that the CPTPP “was created to grow” and anticipates that the United Kingdom “will help shape its future development”, as well as “fight against unfair and coercive commercial practices”.
Since the negotiations began, London has stressed that the addition of Thailand and South Korea would increase the benefits for the British economy.
As a member of the bloc, the United Kingdom will also participate in the debate on the accession of China, which applied in September 2021 to participate in the trans-Pacific trade agreement.