The UK joined eleven other countries in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) last year, which finally goes live from December 15th 2024.
The other members of the new trade agreement include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The scheme can be applied for imports and exports to and from all member countries except three from this date.
The three exceptions are Australia, which will go live a few days later on December 24th, along with Canada and Mexico who have not fully ratified the UK agreement yet.
CPTPP is a free trade agreement which is aimed at reducing tariffs and other trade barriers for the member countries. The deal is expected to improve market access for UK businesses to economies with combined GDP of over 12 trillion pounds.
Most products will be duty-free under CPTPP preference, although there will be variations when other agreements are already in place and for specific commodity codes.
CPTPP does not require a specific preference statement for claiming duty relief, unlike other trade agreements, but does need to follow certain documentary requirements.
Should you require any further information on the above, then please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Global Freight Services team.