Ukraine asks to join CPTPP trade pact
1:04 am Friday, July 07th, 2023
By Kantaro Komiya and Lucy Craymer
TOKYO (Reuters) -Ukraine has submitted a formal request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to New Zealand, Japanese and New Zealand authorities said on Friday.
New Zealand, which performs the legal depositary functions for the partnership, had received a formal accession request from Ukraine on May 5, a New Zealand foreign ministry spokesperson said.
The next steps in the application process would be determined by all members of the CPTPP, who are due to meet in the New Zealand city Auckland on July 16, the spokesperson said.
The CPTPP includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, with Britain becoming the 12th member state. China, Taiwan, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay all also have requests pending to join.
Japan’s economy minister, Shigeyuki Goto, told a regular press conference that Japan, as a CPTPP member, “must carefully assess whether Ukraine fully meets the high level of the agreement” in terms of market access and rules.
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Robert Birsel)
