UK ready to join Asia-Pasific free trade pact

Britain will on Monday formally apply to join a trans-Pacific trading bloc of 11 countries, with negotiations set to start later this year, the government said.

Since leaving the European Union, Britain has made clear its desire to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which removes most tariffs between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

"One year after our departure for the EU we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

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Reuters reported on Thursday that Britain will not publish an assessment of the economic benefits of CPTPP membership before requesting to join it - contrary to earlier promises.

Previous government economic analyses of Brexit have pointed to small boosts to economic output from additional trade deals.

The government said joining CPTPP would remove tariffs on food and drink and cars, while helping to boost the technology and services sectors.

British trade minister will speak to counterparts in Japan and New Zealand on Monday with a formal request to join CPTPP, the statement said.

"Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP demonstrates our ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade," Johnson said. 

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The main opposition Labour Party said the decision to join the bloc was too important to be pushed through without voters' knowledge or consent.

"The government is rushing into the process of joining the CPTPP with no public mandate, and barely any proper discussion with business or civil society," Labour's trade policy chief, Emily Thornberry, told Reuters.

Demand for public debate

Trade minister Liz Truss said last week she would submit a formal request to join the CPTPP "shortly".

Once that has been submitted, the bloc forms a working group which conducts negotiations to work out the terms of a possible accession. A final report from this working group is then presented to the bloc's commission for approval.

A June 2020 British government policy paper said: "Before applying, we will publish an outline approach and a scoping assessment setting out our negotiating objectives and the economic impact and benefits of accession."

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Full membership of the CPTPP would offer better Britain access to economies that represent around 13 percent of global economic output.

Citing low levels of understanding about the CPTPP, Labour said the government needed to reopen a 2018 consultation on the subject and explain what membership means to the public.

"Otherwise people will rightly ask why we have been through five years of division and rancour in this country over leaving a trade bloc with our closest neighbours (the EU) only to join another one on the other side of the world with no public debate at all," Thornberry said. 

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