Trade Minister David Parker and 10 of his counterparts have settled on guidelines to let other countries join the CPTPP trade agreement for exporters in the Pacific Rim.
Parker is in Tokyo to discuss the CPTPP, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership which replaced the TPP after the United States pulled out in 2017.
The minister called the agreement "a significant milestone" and said it was already delivering benefits for New Zealand exporters since it came into force last month.
Markets of particular benefit to New Zealand were Japan, Canada and Mexico, "where we have not previously had an FTA [free trade agreement]," Parker said.
It was also announced that New Zealand would host the next set of CPTPP meetings on an undetermined date in the second half of this year.
Originally called the Trans Pacific Partnership, the agreement was to have included the United States before President Trump rejected it, saying he was putting "America first" in seeking bilateral deals rather than broader agreements.
However, the remaining countries revised the agreement and it came into force at the end of December for the countries which ratified it.
Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Japan New Zealand and Australia have all ratified it, while Peru, Chile, Brunei and Malaysia have not yet done so.
Together, the 11 countries' combined economies represent about 13 per cent of the global economy, about US$13.5 trillion, which makes the CPTPP the third largest free trade area in the world by GDP.
Parker said the agreement was important in the current uncertain global trading environment.
"It provides a level of insurance for New Zealand against strains in the multilateral rules-based trading system."
Alongside the CPTPP meeting, Parker was in Tokyo to "address wider global trade issues" with other trade ministers.
While the US departure was a huge loss given the size of the American market, other countries are reportedly interested in joining the trade deal, seen as a first step toward a pan-Pacific free trade zone.
Separate efforts are underway to forge a free trade arrangement within Asia called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which encompasses the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and China, but not the United States.
Source: AP
Key words: consensus, reached, expanding, CPTPP, trade deal
