Joint Ministerial Statement on the occasion of the inaugural Trade and Investment Dialogue between the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union.
- We, Ministers and Representatives of the Parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union (EU), held the inaugural CPTPP-EU Trade and Investment Dialogue in Naarm/Melbourne on 20 November 2025 (Dialogue).
- At the inaugural Dialogue, we reached a shared understanding that:
- Free and open markets and rules-based trade have contributed to our prosperity and remain essential to our future economic growth and security;
- We will continue to uphold and implement commitments under existing multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements, including with regard to the settlement of any trade disputes;
- Rules and changes to rules that govern trade and investment should be transparent and predictable. Equally, our measures that impact trade and investment should be implemented in a transparent manner consistent with existing rules governing trade and investment;
- We will continue to work towards ensuring that economic growth is sustainable and that all our communities benefit from increased trade and investment;
- We reaffirm the importance of strengthening our resilience and competitiveness by strengthening global value and critical supply chains, fostering sustainable development and growth and deepening our understanding of vulnerabilities;
- We share concerns about market distorting practices, which distort trade and investment flows, affect resilient supply chains, and cause excess capacity. We also share concerns about economic coercion that seeks to exploit economic vulnerabilities and dependencies; and
- We recognise the importance of fostering digital trade among CPTPP and EU economies and facilitating the cross-border transfer of data with appropriate safeguards, including for data, privacy and consumer protection.
- The CPTPP-EU shared understanding reflects the high standards of the CPTPP and the EU, and our shared commitment to upholding fair and open trade that is transparent, predictable, and rules-based. We underscored the importance of the CPTPP-EU shared understanding in supporting sustainable development and growth, fostering a predictable trading environment and advancing cooperation in the digital economy.
- Acknowledging that the Dialogue took place during a particularly challenging time for the global trading system, we underscored our commitment to strengthening the rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, free and fair, inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and transparent multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core.
- We expressed our shared commitment to support work underway in Geneva to reform the WTO to ensure its continued relevance and effectiveness in addressing current and emerging trade challenges including practices which distort trade and investment flows.
- We recognise the positive role of plurilateral negotiations at the WTO, including the Joint Statement Initiatives, as means to advance issues of interest, foster new ideas and approaches, and build momentum towards multilateral agreement of new rules.
- We underscored our efforts to incorporate the Agreement on Electronic Commerce into the WTO legal framework and to bringing the Agreement into force and noted the importance of ongoing multilateral and plurilateral discussions in promoting open, inclusive, and secure digital trade. We reaffirmed our commitment to the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, which has underpinned the growth of the digital economy for the past 27 years, and called on all WTO Members to work towards a long-term solution that ensures certainty and sustains the continued growth of the digital economy.
- We underscored our efforts to incorporate the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement into the WTO legal framework and to bringing the Agreement into force and recognised its potential, with benefits notably accruing to developing countries, to improve the transparency and predictability of investment frameworks, streamline administrative procedures and support sustainable development.
- We acknowledged the need to ensure WTO rules are up-to-date and enforceable, including by improving WTO decision-making processes and reaffirmed our commitment to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system that is accessible to all WTO Members. We affirmed the importance of resolving disputes definitively while we work to reform the system and the need to encourage greater participation in the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA).
- We offer our collective support to the Republic of Cameroon to host a successful 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) and remain committed to working collaboratively with all WTO Members to achieve positive outcomes.
- In order to further enhance the multilateral trading system, as well as to strengthen cooperation between the CPTPP and the EU, the Dialogue provided an opportunity for participants to explore tangible areas of cooperation, including:
- Trade Diversification: We exchanged views on the role of trade diversification in strengthening economic resilience and supporting sustainable development and growth. We acknowledged the potential benefits of expanding trade in goods and services between the CPTPP and the EU, and shared experiences on strategies to diversify markets and explore new sectoral opportunities. We noted the value of continued engagement to better understand respective trade structures and to identify areas of mutual interest for future cooperation.
- Digital Trade: We discussed the growing significance of digital trade in the global economy and the importance of digital trade rules to lower barriers to trade, improve trade efficiencies and facilitate access to markets. We recognised the potential for continued engagement and remain open to working together on digital trade.
- Trade and Investment Facilitation: We expressed our interest in continuing useful discussions on trade and investment facilitation as key enablers of economic growth. We shared perspectives on approaches to improving customs procedures, addressing non-tariff barriers, and streamlining border and regulatory processes, in line with our respective trade and investment commitments.
- Supply Chain Resilience: We recognised the importance of resilient and reliable critical supply chains, and exchanged experiences on policies and practices that support greater transparency, diversification, security, sustainability, trustworthiness and reliability in building and strengthening those supply chains. We shared perspectives on emerging trends and the need to enhance preparedness in case of future disruptions. We look forward to continuing our engagement and remain open to working together on supply chain resilience between the CPTPP and the EU.
- Global trade environment: We discussed efforts to shore up rules-based trade and to ensure that the multilateral trading system is able to respond to the current challenges. We also committed to intensify our ongoing cooperation in the lead up to MC14 and beyond.
- Our discussions in this inaugural Dialogue were constructive and forward-looking. We affirmed the importance of continuing this Dialogue, including through informal exchanges and, where appropriate, technical-level engagement to explore potential areas for ongoing and practical cooperation.
- We have hence instructed Senior Officials from CPTPP Parties and the EU to develop workplans on areas of cooperation of mutual interest in preparation for our next Dialogue, to be held in 2026.