Tokyo (EFECOM).- The member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP, also known as TPP-11) agreed to accept the accession of the United Kingdom this Friday, as confirmed by the Japanese Executive.
Japan’s Economic Recovery Minister Shigeyuki Goto confirmed this news to the press after the ministerial meeting, saying it “is very significant for promoting free trade and also an open and competitive market.”
The eleven member countries reached this decision during a meeting held online and waiting for it to be formally approved during a ministerial meeting scheduled for July 15 and 16, which marks the first expansion of the treaty to a country that was not among its founding members.
According to a statement released today by the accession task force, Britain “has provided commercially significant market access offers of the highest level in goods, services, investment, financial services, government procurement, state-owned enterprises and temporary entry for business people”.
The CPTPP, sealed in 2018, includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Initially it had the United States, but this country abandoned the project in 2017 by decision of former President Donald Trump, which is why it is also known as TPP-11.
The United Kingdom began the process to join the treaty in 2021, becoming one of its key trade strategies after leaving the European Union, and being the first non-Pacific country to apply for membership.
China, Taiwan and Uruguay have also started the process of joining the trans-Pacific agreement, which covers a market of almost 500 million people, 13 percent of world GDP, and is one of the largest free trade agreements in the world.
With the accession of the United Kingdom, the TPP would cover 15% of world GDP.