Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition

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I.  INTRODUCTION

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an international investment agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore  and Vietnam. The CPTPP is the successor agreement to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after the United States withdrew in January 2017. The CPTPP was signed by the above 11 countries on 8 March 2018 and entered into force on 30 December 2018.   On 17 July 2023, the United Kingdom officially signed the Accession Protocol to the CPTPP and will become its 12th member following the ratification process by the existing CPTPP members. Upon ratification, the UK will be the first new member to join since the CPTPP’s establishment and the CPTPP’s first European member.

Like its predecessor the TPP, the CPTPP is one of the most comprehensive trade agreements ever negotiated with respect to scope, coverage and depth. It represents the culmination of each member’s pursuit of trade liberalization and economic integration.

Like other mega-regional international investment agreements (IIA), the CPTPP attempts to balance a number of competing interests and objectives. These include the development of regulatory coherence, safeguarding investor protection and the unifying of dispute settlement mechanisms. Unlike other IIAs, the CPTPP seeks to achieve this within a group of diverse states comprised of vastly different economies, cultures and development levels. In the past, investment treaties have been either regional in scope, for example with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),  or focused on specific sectors, such as the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).