Representatives of countries joining the signing ceremony of the CPTPP in Chile in March 2018 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved bills to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on March 27 to bring the long-promised multilateral trade pact close to enforcement.
The Japanese government will present the set of bills during the current Diet session which runs through June 20 with the hope of pioneering in promoting necessary domestic procedures and building momentum toward ratification of the agreement in other countries.
The CPTPP will enter into force 60 days after at least six countries complete domestic procedures.
To bring the CPTPP into force in Japan, a total of 10 laws need to be domestically revised to include new rules and protections against changes to be brought by the free trade accord.
The 11 CPTPP members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The agreement, the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, covers 13 percent of the world's gross domestic product.
Japan and the 10 countries taking part in the deal after the US’s withdrawal in January 2017 aim to put the pact into force possibly by the end of 2018 after they signed it in Chile earlier this month.-VNA
VNA
