Minister for Trade (Sir ): In Melbourne, Australia, at
the 2025 Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for
Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Ministerial Commission
Meeting,(opens in a new tab) CPTPP ministers identified that
Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates are in
line with the Auckland Principles (principles that CPTPP Parties
consider when assessing accession applications). At that same
meeting, CPTPP Ministers committed to meeting again in the first
half of 2026 to take further decisions on these three accession
applicants, as appropriate.
Ministerial Commission Meeting 26th
June
In the early hours of 26 June 2026, I attended a virtual
Commission Meeting alongside CPTPP Ministers and Representatives;
to meet the commitment we made in Melbourne. At this meeting we
approved by consensus to begin preparatory discussions on
accessions with Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United Arab
Emirates. We have tasked CPTPP officials to commence these
discussions over the coming months.
At the Commission meeting, CPTPP Ministers also:
- Noted the substantive conclusion of negotiations with Costa
Rica and that we have commenced Uruguay's Accession Working
Group.
- Approved the establishment of an ad hoc working group to
enhance cooperation on rules of origin, customs administration
and trade facilitation to maintain a fair and transparent trading
environment.
- Took note of ongoing work to upgrade the CPTPP agreement
following the General Review
- Recommitted to the work underway in dialogues between CPTPP
Parties and the EU and ASEAN.
The full joint ministerial statement of the meeting outcomes can
be found here: Comprehensive and Progressive
Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) joint ministerial
statement on expansion, implementation and co-operation: 26 June
2026 - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab)
Energy Security and Supply Chains for Essential Energy
Products and Other Impacted Commodities
At the same meeting, CPTPP ministers issued a Joint Ministerial Statement
emphasizing the importance of maintaining free and open markets
and rules-based trade in energy and other impacted products, in
light of recent global disruptions.(opens in a new tab)
Next Steps
CPTPP Ministers will convene again towards the end of this year
for the CPTPP Commission Meeting under Viet Nam's Chairship, I
look forward to keeping the House updated on future CPTPP
developments.
