Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership


The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, also known as TPP11 or TPP-11, is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
It evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which never entered into force due to the withdrawal of the United States. At the time of its signing, the eleven countries' combined economies represented 13.4 percent of the global gross domestic product, making the CPTPP the third largest free-trade area in the world by GDP after the North American Free Trade Agreement and European Single Market.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement was signed on 4 February 2016, but never entered into force, as Donald Trump withdrew the US from the agreement soon after being elected. All original TPP signatories except the US agreed in May 2017 to revive it and reached agreement in January 2018 to conclude the CPTPP. The formal signing ceremony was held on 8 March 2018 in Santiago, Chile. The CPTPP incorporates most of the TPP provisions by reference, but suspended 22 provisions the US favored that other countries opposed, and lowered the threshold for enactment so the participation of the US is not required. The agreement specifies that its provisions enter into effect 60 days after ratification by at least 50% of the signatories. The sixth nation to ratify the deal was Australia on 31 October, and the agreement came into force for the initial six ratifying countries on 30 December 2018.
Two-thirds of the provisions in the signed CPTPP are identical to the TPP draft at the time the US left the negotiating process. The chapter on state-owned enterprises is unchanged, requiring signatories to share information about SOEs with each other, with the intent of engaging with the issue of state intervention in markets. It includes the most detailed standards for intellectual property of any trade agreement, as well as protections against intellectual property theft against corporations operating abroad.
Twenty-two TPP provisions that were priorities of the US but not other negotiating partners were suspended or modified in the CPTPP. One of the most contested provisions advocated for by the US, was for an increase in the ability of companies to sue national governments, in particular over strict regulations over oil and gas developments. Another was the US insistence that copyright be extended to the author's lifetime plus 70 years; this requirement was removed in the CPTPP. Japan did extend the copyright period to life plus 70 years, which was a requirement stemming from the EU–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

Negotiations

During the round of negotiations held concurrently with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam in November 2017, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau refused to sign the agreement in principle, stating reservations about the provisions on culture and automotives. Media outlets in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, which strongly supported quick movement on a deal, strongly criticized what they portrayed as Canadian sabotage.
Canada insisted that cultural and language rights, specifically related to its French-speaking minority, be protected.
However, Canada's major reservation was a conflict between the percentage of a vehicle that must originate in a CPTPP member nation to enter tariff-free, which was 45% under the original TPP language and 62.5% under the NAFTA agreement. Japan, which is a major automobile part exporter, strongly supports lower requirements. In January 2018, Canada announced that it would sign the CPTPP after obtaining binding side letters on culture with every other CPTPP member country, as well as bilateral agreements with Japan, Malaysia, and Australia related to non-tariff barriers. Canada's Auto Parts Manufacturers' Association sharply criticized increasing the percentages of automobile parts that may be imported tariff-free, noting that the United States was moving in the opposite direction by demanding stricter importation standards in the ongoing NAFTA renegotiation.
In February 2019, Canada's Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification, delivered a keynote address at a seminar concerning CPTPP - Expanding Your Business Horizons, reaching out to businesses stating the utilisation of the agreement provides a bridge that will enable people, goods and services to be shared more easily.

Ratifications

On 28 June 2018, Mexico became the first country to finish its domestic ratification procedure of the CPTPP, with President Enrique Peña Nieto stating, "With this new generation agreement, Mexico diversifies its economic relations with the world and demonstrates its commitment to openness and free trade."
On 6 July 2018, Japan became the second country to ratify the agreement.
On 19 July 2018, Singapore became the third country to ratify the agreement and deposit its instrument of ratification.
On 17 October 2018, the Australian Federal Parliament passed relevant legislation through the Senate. The official ratification was deposited on 31 October 2018. This two-week gap made Australia the sixth signatory to deposit its ratification of the agreement, and it came into force 60 days later.
On 25 October 2018, New Zealand ratified the CPTPP, increasing the number of countries that had formally ratified the agreement to four.
Also on 25 October 2018, Canada passed and was granted royal assent on the enabling legislation. The official ratification was deposited on 29 October 2018.
On 2 November 2018, the CPTPP and related documents were submitted to the National Assembly of Vietnam for ratification. On 12 November 2018, the National Assembly passed a resolution unanimously ratifying the CPTPP. The Vietnamese government officially notified New Zealand of its ratification on 15 November 2018.
On 17 April 2019, the CTPPP was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. The final round of approval in the Senate was scheduled for November 2019, after being approved by its Commission of Constitution. However, one of the demands of the 2019 Chilean protests was the rejection of the treaty, so the Senate decided to suspend the session regarding the CTPPP on 11 November 2019.
An overview of the legislative process in selected states is shown below:

Entry into force

On 30 December 2018, the agreement entered into force between Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Singapore.
On 1 January 2019, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Singapore implemented a second round of tariff cuts. Japan's second tariff cut took place on 1 April 2019.
On 14 January 2019, the agreement entered into force for Vietnam.

CPTPP Commission

The CPTPP Commission is the decision-making body of the CPTPP, which was established when the CPTPP entered into force on 30 December 2018. Representatives from the 11 CPTPP signatories participated in the first CPTPP Commission meeting in Tokyo on 19 January 2019.
The CPTPP Commission made the following decisions on 19 January 2019:
2nd CPTPP Commission meeting was held on 9 October 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. Alongside the commission, the following Committees met for the first time in Auckland: Trade in Goods; Rules of Origin; Agricultural Trade; Technical Barriers to Trade; Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; Small and Medium Sized Enterprises; State Owned Enterprises; Development; Cooperation and Capacity Building; Competitiveness and Business Facilitation; Environment; and the Labour Council. The Commission adopted two formal decisions, on its Rules of Procedure under Article 27.4 and to establish a Roster of Panel Chairs as provided for under Article 28.11.

Potential future members

United Kingdom

In January 2018, the government of the United Kingdom stated it was exploring membership of the CPTPP to stimulate exports after Brexit and has held informal discussions with several of the members. The country has an overseas territory, the Pitcairn Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. In October 2018, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would welcome the United Kingdom joining the partnership post-Brexit. In a joint Telegraph article with Simon Birmingham, David Parker, and Chan Chun Sing, the trade ministers of Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, UK Secretary of State for Trade, Liz Truss, expressed the United Kingdom's intent to join the CPTPP.
The UK Department for Trade's chief negotiator Crawford Falconer helped lead the New Zealand negotiations for the predecessor Trans-Pacific Partnership before leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2012.
In June 2020, the government of the United Kingdom issued a policy paper reaffirming the UK's position on accession to the CPTPP. There were three reasons given were:
Furthermore, the UK government stated that in 2019, each region and nation of the UK exported at least £1 billion worth of goods to CPTPP member countries. The UK government also highlighted that UK companies held close to £98 billion worth of investments in CPTPP countries in 2018 and that in 2019, the UK did more than £110 billion worth of trade with countries in the CPTPP free trade area.
The UK government has not produced an impact assessment that explains or quantifies the benefits it expects for the UK economy from accession to CPTPP. As such, it is a matter of dispute in UK as to whether accession is worth pursuing for economic reasons. Farmer, environmental and consumer groups have all raised concerns that the UK government will need to agree to lowering standards on pesticides, pig welfare and food labelling. These concerns have also been raised by the Scottish government.

United States

On 25 January 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump in an interview announced his interest in possibly rejoining the TPP if it were a "substantially better deal" for the United States. He withdrew the U.S. from the original agreement in January 2017. On 12 April 2018, he told the White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to look into joining the new deal. U.S. Wheat Associates President Vince Peterson had said in December 2018 that American wheat exporters could face an “imminent collapse” in their 53% market share in Japan due to CPTPP. Peterson added, “Our competitors in Australia and Canada will now benefit from those provisions, as US farmers watch helplessly.” The National Cattlemen's Beef Association stated that exports of beef to Japan, America's largest export market, would be at a serious disadvantage to Australian exporters as their tariffs on exports to Japan would be cut by 27.5% during the first year of CPTPP.
CountryStatus 2016 agreementStatus CPTPPAnnounced Interest
Former TPP signatoryAnnounced InterestJanuary 2018
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced Interest2016
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced InterestJanuary 2018
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced Interest2018
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced Interest2018
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced Interest2018
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced Interest2018
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced InterestMay 2020
Non TPP signatoryAnnounced Interest2020