Philippines entry into CPTPP gets NZ support

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has secured the support of New Zealand for its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

In a statement, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the country would be supported by New Zealand in its plan to join the CPTPP.

During his virtual call with New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’ Connor last May 10, Lopez said the two countries discussed how CPTPP would benefit participating countries.

The CPTPP is expected to help diversify member countries’ supply chain sources and markets and improve their competitiveness.

Lopez conveyed the Philippines’ interest to join the CPTPP through a letter to New Zealand last Feb.3.

New Zealand is the depositary country for the trade agreement.

Other CPTPP members that have welcomed the Philippines’ intent to join the trade agreement are Chile and Australia.

Apart from New Zealand, Chile and Australia, other members of the CPTPP are Brunei, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

During the virtual call, the officials also discussed their respective countries’ vaccination rollout and the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade on June 4 to 5, to be hosted by New Zealand.

They also talked about the announcements of major economies to voluntarily waive, even on a temporary basis, patents on vaccines to accelerate production and rollout.

The officials will confer with APEC counterparts to see how the World Trade Organization will act on the matter to show how trade can play a role in response to public health emergencies.