UK's Trans-Pacific free trade bloc pact in force by mid-December

The UK confirmed on Thursday that it has now secured the sixth and final ratification required to trigger its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by December 15.

CPTPP is a free trade bloc spanning five continents, made up of Pacific rim countries of Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan, and almost 600 million people once the UK joins. Following Peru's ratification of the deal for the UK to join, the agreement entered into under the previous Conservative Party government will now officially come into force under the new Labour government.

This is good news for UK businesses, who are now one step closer to being able to take advantage of the opportunities our membership of CPTPP will bring, said Douglas Alexander, Minister of State for Trade Policy.

"My message to businesses is to get in touch with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to find out how CPTPP could benefit your business, if you haven't already. We're extremely grateful to all the CPTPP partners that have already ratified our accession  Japan, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, Vietnam and now Peru  and look forward to more doing so over the coming months, he said.

DBT said that more than 99 per cent of current UK goods exports to CPTPP members will be tariff-free once the deal enters into effect, helping businesses export more to CPTPP markets and contributing to the government's priority of driving economic growth. By 2040, the agreement is expected to boost the UK economy by around GBP 2 billion annually, according to official estimates.

Before Peru, five other CPTPP members ratified the terms of the UK's accession: Japan, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Vietnam. This means the agreement will come into force with those members by mid-December, and subsequently with other members as they ratify.

We continue to work closely with the remaining member countries who are in the process of ratifying the deal, DBT said.

As the first country to accede to this agreement, the UK will be well positioned to shape its future development, from influencing the development of the CPTPP rulebook to championing the group's expansion to new economies, the department added.

India, which is not part of the CPTPP, is negotiating a separate free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK and last month the new Labour regime had confirmed plans to restart the negotiations stalled by general elections in both countries. The talks, which aim to enhance the GBP 38.1 billion a year bilateral partnership, have completed 13 rounds under the previous Tory administration.

"Our teams will be entering negotiating rooms as soon as possible, laser-focused on creating new opportunities for UK firms so they can support jobs across the country and deliver the growth we desperately need, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said, reiterating the newly elected government's commitment to continue the FTA talks with India.