Hanoi (VNA) – The Cabinet of JapanesePrime Minister Shinzo Abe approved bills to ratify the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on March 27 tobring the long-promised multilateral trade pact close to enforcement.
The Japanese government will present the set ofbills during the current Diet session which runs through June 20 with the hopeof pioneering in promoting necessary domestic procedures and building momentumtoward ratification of the agreement in other countries.
The CPTPP will enter into force 60 days after atleast six countries complete domestic procedures.
To bring the CPTPP into force in Japan, a totalof 10 laws need to be domestically revised to include new rules and protectionsagainst changes to be brought by the free trade accord.
The 11 CPTPPmembers are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, NewZealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The agreement,the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, covers 13 percent of theworld's gross domestic product.
Japan and the10 countries taking part in the deal after the US’s withdrawal in January 2017aim to put the pact into force possibly by the end of 2018 after they signed itin Chile earlier this month.-VNA