Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
Economic · CPTPP
Eleven governments put their names to a short text at Santiago on 8 March 2018, fourteen months after the United States left the long one it was built from. The agreement incorporates the Trans-Pacific Partnership by reference and suspends twenty-two of its provisions. It entered into force on 30 December 2018, and the United Kingdom, which has no Pacific coast, acceded on 15 December 2024. New Zealand holds the original.
12 countries
Common questions
Questions about CPTPP
Which countries are in the CPTPP?
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. The first eleven signed at Santiago on 8 March 2018. The United Kingdom acceded under a protocol signed on 16 July 2023 that entered into force on 15 December 2024, and became fully effective across the group when Canada's ratification took effect on 1 September 2026.
What is the difference between the TPP and the CPTPP?
The 2018 agreement incorporates the Trans-Pacific Partnership of 4 February 2016 by reference and suspends twenty-two of its provisions, most of them on intellectual property. It also replaced the entry into force clause: the 2016 text needed signatories accounting for 85% of the original combined gross domestic product, which could not be reached after the United States withdrew, while the 2018 text asks for six signatories or half of them.
Is the United States in the CPTPP?
No. It signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership at Auckland on 4 February 2016 and withdrew on 23 January 2017, before that agreement had entered into force for anyone. The provisions suspended in 2018 were largely the ones it had pressed for, and Article 2 holds the suspension until the parties agree to end it rather than striking the provisions out.
Can a country outside the Pacific join the CPTPP?
Article 5 says that any State or separate customs territory may accede on terms agreed between the parties, and it names no ocean. The United Kingdom, which has no Pacific coast, acceded on 15 December 2024. Ukraine's request is among those lodged and not yet taken up.
Which countries have applied to join the CPTPP?
China on 16 September 2021, the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on 22 September 2021, Ecuador on 29 December 2021, Costa Rica on 11 August 2022, Uruguay on 1 December 2022, Ukraine in 2023, Indonesia in September 2024 and Cambodia in December 2025. Costa Rica's accession working group concluded on 6 May 2026 and Uruguay's process was opened on 21 November 2025. A protocol has to be signed and ratified before a roster changes, so none of them is a party yet.
Sources
- Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) · New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the depositary. The signature at Santiago on 8 March 2018 and the entry into force date for each party.
- CPTPP text and associated documents · Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The seven articles, the Annex of suspended provisions, and the incorporation of the 2016 text by reference.
- CPTPP compared with TPP · New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The twenty-two suspended items and what suspension means for the parties.
- The UK and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) · United Kingdom Department for Business and Trade. The accession protocol, the entry into force of 15 December 2024, and the later dates for Australia, Mexico and Canada.
- Meetings of the CPTPP Commission · Global Affairs Canada. The Commission meetings and their decisions, including the Auckland Principles, the United Kingdom working group of 2021 and the Costa Rica working group of 28 November 2024.
- Decision of the CPTPP Commission on Uruguay's formal request to commence the accession process · Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The decision taken at Melbourne on 21 November 2025.
- United Kingdom accession to the CPTPP · New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The protocol signed on 16 July 2023 and its entry into force following ratification by the United Kingdom and a majority of the parties.
- Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Chapter 30, Final Provisions · New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The 2016 text done at Auckland on 4 February 2016, and the entry into force threshold of 85% of combined gross domestic product.