UK joins Trans-Pacific Partnership as its first non-pacific member

The UK has officially become a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an economic bloc that previously included 11 countries from the region.

The relevant protocol came into effect on December 15, Caliber.Az reports via Japanese media. 

This came after all the necessary procedures for the UK's accession to the economic bloc, based on mutual reduction or elimination of trade tariffs and the facilitation of the movement of goods, capital, and technology, were completed in the TPP member countries.

The Japanese government (the biggest economy in the TPP) actively supported the UK's accession to the bloc, although there were initial doubts within the union. However, these concerns were ultimately resolved after London agreed to fully abolish tariffs on palm oil imports from Malaysia and made certain trade concessions to other member states.  

The UK became the first country that joined the TPP after its formation and the first member outside the Asia-Pacific region. The so-called Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TPP previously included Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Chile, and Japan. Initially, the agreement, signed in 2016, also included the US, but Washington withdrew from the TPP under President Donald Trump. 

This decision threatened the existence of the partnership, but the leaders of the remaining member countries made amendments to the agreement in 2019 and continued its implementation without the US. At the same time, Japan and other members of the partnership have consistently urged the US to rejoin the TPP. 

Currently, the countries of this partnership account for 15 per cent of the world’s GDP and are home to around 580 million people. The UK applied to join the TPP on February 1, 2021. China, Taiwan, and Ukraine have also announced their intention to join the partnership.

By Naila Huseynova