Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam formerly known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

This Agreement was approved by 8 country members including Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam, Peru and officially came into force on 30 December 2018. CPTPP came into force in Vietnam since 14 January 2019, and in Peru since 19 September 2021.

CPTPP is one of the largest free trade agreements in the world, representing nearly 13.5 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). The CPTPP recognizes the challenges facing Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in establishing export markets and compete with giant enterprises.

The most significant revisions were in the investment and intellectual property (IP) chapters compared formerly TPP. Including 22 provisions from the original agreement were suspended or otherwise changed, in IP chapter, the length of patent protection for innovative medicines has been shortened, and technology and information protections have been narrowed. Copyright periods for written materials have also been shortened. Unlike other FTAs, under CPTPP this certification does not need to follow a prescribed format, however it must be in writing (including electronic) and must contain a set of minimum data requirements.

On 1 February 2021, the United Kingdom (UK) formally requested to participate in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The next following day, 2 June 2021 the CPTPP Commission agreed to formally commence accession negotiations with the United Kingdom.