Legislation mandating the UK’s accession to the CPTPP Indo-Pacific trade pact has passed into law and been welcomed as a “red-letter day” for British firms.
The Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Act has been granted Royal Assent, meaning it has entered the UK statute books.
It comes after business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch signed the accession treaty in July 2023 following two years of negotiations to join the market of over 500m people.
Badenoch said she was “delighted” by the “major step towards the UK becoming a full-fledged member of the bloc and the many benefits that will come with that membership”.
She added: “We are leveraging our freedoms as an independent trading nation to open-up a new era of partnership with the fast-growing economies of tomorrow.”
While trade policy minister Greg Hands urged British businesses to begin preparing to be “ready to take full advantage of the brilliant opportunities… when the deal comes into force”.
The UK is expected to be fully ratified to join the bloc later this year, making over 99 per cent of current UK goods exports to CPTPP nations will be eligible for zero tariffs, including cars.
Once British membership is affirmed, as the first European, and first new member, the CPTPP will make up 15 per cent of global GDP, equal to £12 trillion in 2022.
William Bain, trade policy lead at the British Chambers of Commerce, described the news as a “red-letter day for our traders”, adding that firms “will have more flexibility in their supply and manufacturing chains, easier ability to transfer data, and stronger procurement and investment opportunities in a fast-growing part of the global economy”.
And Marco Forgione, director-general of the Institute of Export & International Trade, said the move would “help reshape the UK economy for the future” and “open up high growth markets to the UK’s world leading services sectors”.