Pacific States–United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement

Pacific States–United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement
Interim Economic Partnership Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Pacific States
  Pacific States
  United Kingdom
TypeFree Trade Agreement
ContextTrade continuity agreement between the United Kingdom and Pacific states
Signed14 March 2019
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Effective1 January 2021
ConditionThe agreement entered into force provisionally once the United Kingdom and at least one Pacific State completed their applicable domestic procedures and notified each other.
Negotiators
Original
signatories
Parties
Languages

The Pacific States–United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement is a plurilateral free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands, designed to promote trade, investment, and sustainable development. It largely replicates the existing European Union–Pacific States Economic Partnership Agreement framework, maintaining preferential trade access, with Fiji and Papua New Guinea and later Samoa and Solomon Islands. The agreement is part of the UK's strategy to maintain and enhance trade relationships with developing countries following its departure from the European Union.[1][2]

Backgrounds

Following Brexit, the UK sought to replicate and adapt existing EU trade agreements with third countries to ensure continuity in trade. The UK-Pacific EPA is based on the EU-Pacific States Economic Partnership Agreement, reflecting similar provisions and objectives. The agreement was signed on 14 March 2019 and entered into force in 2021, with Samoa and the Solomon Islands acceding on 31 March 2022.[3]

Members

The agreement covers the following countries:

The Pacific States–UK Economic Partnership Agreement states that 10 other Pacific nations are currently eligible to apply for accession, Tonga has shown interest in acceding to the EPA:[6]

Economic impact

The agreement ensures that trade between the UK and Pacific States continues on preferential terms, avoiding a reversion to less favourable Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates. This continuity is estimated to prevent an annual increase of around £19 million in duties on imports from the Pacific region.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Joined 11 January 2021[4]
  2. ^ Joined 5 January 2021[5]

References

  1. ^ Department for International Trade (14 March 2019). "UK and Pacific Islands sign trade continuity agreement". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  2. ^ Partington, Richard (14 March 2019). "UK signs post-Brexit trade deal with Fiji and Papua New Guinea". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  3. ^ "United Kingdom-Pacific States Interim Economic Partnership (Pacific States interim)". Asia Regional Integration Center. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  4. ^ Rheeney, Alexander (11 January 2022). "Samoa signs trade agreement with U.K." Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  5. ^ Web Admin (5 January 2021). "Solomon Islands Accession onto the UK-Pacific interim Economic Partnership Agreement". Solomon Islands Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  6. ^ Department of International Trade (March 2019). Continuing the United Kingdom's trade relationship with the Republic of Fiji and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ("the Pacific States") (PDF). GOV.UK (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.