Published by maria gbaf
Posted on September 1, 2021
2 min readLast updated: February 14, 2026
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By Daniel Leussink and Kantaro Komiya
TOKYO (Reuters) – Member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreed to hold within a month a first meeting with Britain to discuss its inclusion in the trade deal, Japan’s economy minister said on Wednesday.
The trade pact removes 95% of tariffs between its members: Japan, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Chile and Malaysia.
“It was agreed between member countries to hold it (the meeting) in about a month,” Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters after hosting a virtual meeting of the 11 member nations.
Japan, as the trade pact’s chair this year, will work to hold the working group meeting – which will allow Britain to demonstrate its compliance with the deal’s obligations – before the end of the month, Nishimura said.
“I believe that the importance of Britain as a strategic partner and the expansion of the high-level rules beyond the Asia-Pacific are extremely significant,” Nishimura added.
Britain in June began negotiations to join the trans-Pacific trade deal, which it sees as key to its post-Brexit pivot away from Europe and towards geographically more distant but faster-growing economies.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Kantaro Komiya. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
The meeting aims to discuss Britain's compliance with the CPTPP's obligations and its potential inclusion in the trade pact.
The CPTPP includes Japan, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Chile, and Malaysia.
Britain views joining the CPTPP as crucial for its post-Brexit strategy, allowing it to pivot towards faster-growing economies beyond Europe.
Japan is hosting the meeting as the chair of the CPTPP this year.
The CPTPP removes 95% of tariffs between its member countries.
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