The UK has today signed an agreement to join a powerful trade alliance with 11 Pacific nations, including Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and Peru. This is the first accession to the trans-Pacific trade pact since it started in 2018 and paved the way for members to consider other applications, including those from China and Taiwan.

The signing is part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) meeting which will be held this weekend in New Zealand. Today, ministers from member countries will meet to discuss a number of issues, including how to proceed with the new request and review the agreement itself.

UK Business and Commerce Secretary Kemi Badenoch stated that her country was pleased to become the first new member of CPTPP. “This is a modern and ambitious deal and our joining this exciting bloc shows that the UK’s doors are open for business,” said Badenoch. The UK government has yet to ratify the agreement.

The CPTPP is a landmark trade pact agreed in 2018 between 11 countries including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Britain will become the 12th member of a pact that lowers trade barriers in the Pacific. This is an important step for Britain’s international policy after its departure from the European Union in 2020.

China, Taiwan, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Ecuador have also applied to join the CPTPP.

“We continue to discuss how to collectively move forward in the accession process in a way that reflects all of our interests and maintains the high standards set at the outset,” said the CPTPP statement.

China’s application to join the pact is now next on the list if processed in the order it was received, but the country faces a series of obstacles to inclusion. CPTPP requires countries to eliminate or significantly reduce tariffs, make strong commitments to open markets for services and investment, and uphold advanced rules on competition, intellectual property rights, and protection of foreign companies.

Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s trade minister who chaired the CPTPP meeting, told a news conference he did not know when a decision on future membership would be made. “It’s a complex area,” O’Connor said of the membership application, adding that no country-specific applications were discussed on Sunday. China has opposed Taiwan’s request.

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