London, Thanasis Gavos

The United Kingdom has joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), becoming the 12th member of this Indo-Pacific free trade pact.

The move, described by the British government as the country’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal, brings the UK into the same trading club as Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Under the CPTPP, tariffs and barriers to trade between member countries are removed.

Although the UK already has bilateral trade deals with the other members, except Malaysia, the government says joining the CPTPP will further deepen trade relations and now 99% of British exports to these countries will come with zero tariffs. duties.

These products include cheese, cars, chocolate, machinery, gin and whiskey. The bureaucracy in terms of the provision of services by British companies to these countries will also be reduced.

In total, it is expected to boost the UK economy by £1.8 billion in the long term.

The UK’s membership was finalized in a conference call by Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch with her counterparts from the other member states early on Friday.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the deal “shows what we can achieve when we take advantage of the benefits of Brexit”.

Although the country’s accession to the Agreement was welcomed by trade organizations in Britain, trade experts noted that it did not outweigh the economic blow of leaving the European Union.

Ms Badenoch countered that in the CPTPP the UK could apply its own standards to the trade rules in place, which she argued it could not do as an EU member.

Negotiations for the country’s accession to the Agreement had begun in September 2021, under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.