Australia Chair of the CPTPP in 2025
On 1 January 2025, Australia assumed the Chair of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Australia is committed to enhancing trade and economic opportunities for our Australian stakeholders and all CPTPP members, ensuring the agreement remains modern, effective, and responsive to global challenges.
Australia's theme for this year is Delivering Sustainable Trade and Resilient Growth and will focus on three overarching priorities:
- Increasing trade: leveraging the "gold standard" of the Agreement to further boost trade between members, bringing economic gains to our communities.
- Facilitating trade: we aim to make it easier for members to trade with each other by improving processes.
- Spreading the benefits of trade: Australia is committed to ensuring that CPTPP supports inclusive and sustainable trade practices.
This year presents a key opportunity to drive meaningful outcomes that strengthen regional economic integration, increase trade and support sustainable and inclusive trade across the CPTPP membership.
More information on the activities and meetings for 2025 will be published shortly.
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Establishment of Costa Rica Accession Working Group: Call for Submissions
On 28 November 2024, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Ministers agreed to the commencement of an accession process for Costa Rica.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is now inviting submissions from interested individuals and groups on the opportunities and impacts of Costa Rica's potential accession to the CPTPP. Stakeholders are invited to consider and comment on the commercial, economic, regional and other impacts that could be expected to arise from Costa Rica acceding to the CPTPP. The information stakeholders provide will assist the Government in considering Australia's approach to accession negotiations with Costa Rica.
Individuals, organisations and groups that make submissions will be registered as stakeholders by the Department for further consultation and follow up, as appropriate.
Submissions can be lodged through: CPTPP@dfat.gov.au.
All submissions will be available on the DFAT website unless the author specifies otherwise.
About the 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) signed on 8 March 2018 in Santiago, Chile between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The United Kingdom (UK) signed its accession protocol to join CPTPP in July 2023. CPTPP entered into force for Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Singapore on 30 December 2018; 14 January 2019 for Vietnam; 19 September 2021 for Peru; 29 November 2022 for Malaysia; 21 February 2023 for Chile; 12 July 2023 for Brunei; and 15 December 2024 for the UK.
This Agreement is a separate treaty that incorporates, by reference, the provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement (signed but not in force), with the exception of a limited set of suspended provisions.
The CPTPP members have a shared vision for the Agreement, with the aim of ensuring it remains the "gold standard" of trade agreements and able to adapt to the trade challenges confronting Parties.
Membership is open to other economies if they are able to meet the Agreement's high standards including a record of complying with international trade commitments and gain consensus support from CPTPP members.
Making the most of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
The CPTPP recognises the challenges facing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in establishing export markets, and includes outcomes to assist SEMs in the CPTPP region.
Other resources available include:
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DFAT's FTA Portal
The FTA Portal is a comprehensive resource for exporters, and importers of goods and services looking to explore the benefits of Australia's current free trade agreements and how to apply for preferential treatment under those FTAs.
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Guide to using CPTPP to export and import goods
This guide has detailed information about how you can make the most of the CPTPP including how to make sure your goods qualify for tariff cuts.
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Certification of Origin
Under the CPTPP, an importer may make a claim for preferential tariff treatment based on a Certification of Origin (COO) completed by:
- an importer
- an exporter, or
- a producer
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. A template to help you meet these requirements is available here:
Attachment C: Guide to using CPTPP certification of origin for template example [DOCX]
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FAQ
Other useful information includes: