UK announces trade deal with New Zealand in search of post-Brexit deals

After Australia and Japan, The UK announced the Brexit trade agreement with New Zealand on Wednesday, Strengthens its trade ties with the Indo-Pacific region and its ambition to consolidate the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement.

The deal came during a video call between the British prime minister on Wednesday. Boris JohnsonAnd its New Zealand counterpart, Jacintha Artern, The British Ministry of Commerce announced in a statement.

“This is an excellent trade agreement for the United Kingdom, which strengthens our long-standing friendship with New Zealand and our ties with the Indo-Pacific region.”Johnson was quoted in the report.

London believes in this deal Open the doors of the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement (CPTPP), “A free trade zone connecting 11 countries with a GDP of $ 8,400 million” (, 9,790 million).

The CPTPP is the most important free trade agreement in the region, signed by New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Japan. British officials asked to be a part of it in February this year.

After Brexit, London reached trade agreements with the European Union, Japan and Australia, and some European countries that were not members of the European Union, such as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The European Commission and the British government launched in Brussels last week Negotiations to change Northern Ireland protocol to Brexit agreementIts use in recent months has led to a huge increase in bureaucracy for companies and some tensions in Ulster.

When the Brexit talks appeared to be a thing of the past, after the conclusion of the agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom in December 2020, London put the issue back on the table.

Trigger is a bureaucratic burden imposed by Northern Ireland ethics, A document attached to the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, signed to protect the peace agreements in Ulster.

This tool says Northern Ireland is linked to the European single market, with the aim of avoiding the border between the British province and the Republic of Ireland.

In practice, cargo had to be shipped from the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland Customs controls in Northern Irish and English ports.

The result Lack Materials and Political tensions In Northern Ireland, especially in the pro-British Protestant Unionist community.

London has called for a “significant change” to the Northern Ireland protocol. Not only does it relax regulations, it oversees the application of the CJEU rules and resolves disputes, but instead proposes a joint arbitration body.

But this is a red line for Brussels. “You cannot access a single market without the supervision of the European Court of Justice”, subrayó Cefkovic.

Brussels is proposed to reduce health and phytosanitary restrictions by 80% Goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland halve the tariff bureaucracy to facilitate the implementation of the protocol.

At the moment, the plan does not convince the United Kingdom that it is ready to begin. “Serious conversations“In the Commission’s ideas, but calls for change”Basic features“If we want a lasting agreement with the support of Northern Ireland, including the administration,” a spokesman for the British executive said after learning of the proposal.

The reference to governance suggests it The United Kingdom is dissatisfied with customs measures and insists on the removal of social justice from the treaty.

According to a diplomatic report, five EU countries, including Spain, have asked the commission to prepare for the possibility of suspending the London protocol. Negotiations between the Commission and the British Government continue in Brussels this week.

(With AFP and EFE information)

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