Britain’s biggest trade deal since Brexit faces claims of fuelling deforestation as the economy opens up to imports of Malaysian palm oil.
After an intense round of final talks in Vietnam, the UK has been accepted into the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade bloc that will now have a total GDP value of £11 trillion.
The UK will become the first non-founding member to join CPTPP, whose membership includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The deal will open up trade relations with Malaysia and Britain has liberalised tariffs on palm oil imported from the country under the terms of the deal.
The relaxation has sparked concern among environmental campaigners as intensive palm oil production has been widely blamed for large amounts of wildlife habitat destruction.
Clare Oxborrow, senior sustainability analyst at Friends of the Earth, a campaign group, warned that the trade deal undermined the UK’s commitment to eradicating deforestation from its supply chains.
Ms Oxborrow said: “Many parts of Southeast Asia have been heavily scarred by deforestation, particularly that driven by palm oil production. With our natural world in a state of emergency, we must bring in tougher measures to ensure that products bought and sold in the UK adhere to rigorous environmental and human rights legislation.”
The UK will officially join CPTPP next year, after legislation has been passed and ratified. The Treasury estimates the deal will be worth £1.8bn a year for the economy within a decade.
Other allowances made under the terms of the deal include reduced tariffs to accommodate imports of bananas from Peru, crab sticks from Singapore, and rice from Vietnam.
Joining CPTPP will bring new opportunities for dairy farmers by granting new access to Canada, Mexico and Japan, as well as the car sector and Britain’s digital industries.
Negotiations began in June 2021, and involved five rounds of talks, with more than 150 delegates meeting for the final round in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We are at our heart an open and free-trading nation, and this deal demonstrates the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms.”
Mr Sunak added: “Joining the CPTPP trade bloc puts the UK at the centre of a dynamic and growing group of Pacific economies, as the first new nation and first European country to join. British businesses will now enjoy unparalleled access to markets from Europe to the south Pacific.”
Almost all UK goods exported to CPTPP countries will have zero tariffs, including major export industries such as cheese, cars, chocolate, machinery, gin and whisky.