Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress her Department has made on securing UK membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The UK recently reached a major milestone in the accession process to CPTPP, by moving to market access negotiations with this trading bloc.

These negotiations will see new, beneficial trading relationships agreed with CPTPP members. Tariffs will be reduced on UK goods exports, and services markets will open up further to British business, through advanced provisions that facilitate digital trade and modern rules on data. We aim to conclude negotiations by the end of 2022.