Joint Ministerial Statement on the occasion of the Ninth Commission Meeting of the CPTPP

21 November 2025

Naarm/Melbourne, Australia on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation.

1. At a time when the international trading system is facing significant challenges, we commit to work together for a free, fair, open, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based trading system, with the World Trade Organization at its core.  We welcome the outcomes delivered under the Chair's priorities – to increase trade through deeper integration; facilitate trade by improving implementation and streamlining processes; and to spread the benefits of trade.

Meeting the moment

2. We are determined to meet the moment and resolve to ensure that CPTPP continues to play a key role in fostering economic integration and supporting the prosperity of our economies. We commit to updating and enhancing the Agreement, improving implementation, and continuing to expand the CPTPP in accordance with the Auckland Principles.
3. We welcome the inaugural Trade and Investment Dialogues between the CPTPP and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the CPTPP and the European Union (EU), held in the margins of the Commission meeting. As affirmed in the CPTPP-ASEAN Trade and Investment Dialogue Joint Ministerial Statement (Annex A) and CPTPP-EU Trade and Investment Dialogue Joint Ministerial Statement (Annex B), the Dialogues underscore our shared commitment to upholding fair and open trade, supporting sustainable growth and fostering a predictable trading environment.
4. We reaffirm our shared concerns with and opposition to economic coercion that seeks to exploit economic vulnerabilities and dependencies. Economic coercion is not in keeping with the high standards of the Agreement, or expectations of the CPTPP membership. We reaffirm our strong interest to work collaboratively in the CPTPP, to deter economic coercion and mitigate its risks.
5. We recognise the continued role that CPTPP mechanisms play in enabling us to collectively address the risks that market distorting practices pose to trade and investment and highlight the benefits of further dialogue between Parties towards addressing such practices. In this regard, the Parties remain committed to maintaining the integrity of the market and honouring their obligations to promote a fair, transparent and predictable trading environment.

Increasing trade through deeper integration

6. We celebrate the strong trade and investment relationships fostered by this Agreement and acknowledge the strategic weight of the CPTPP in the global economic architecture. We reaffirm our ambition for the CPTPP to continue to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth for all.
7. We welcome the substantial progress of the ongoing discussions for Costa Rica's accession process to the CPTPP and resolve to ensure that the high standards of the Agreement are upheld. We instruct the Accession Working Group to continue discussions expeditiously and to report back in December 2025, aiming to conclude the accession process in a timely manner.
8. We have identified four aspirants who are in line with the Auckland Principles, namely Uruguay, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, and Indonesia. We have decided to commence an accession process with Uruguay, and will commence with the others in 2026, if appropriate. This will not prevent the consideration and discussion of other accession requests. To maintain the pace of our work, in addition to meeting in December 2025 we intend to meet again in the first half of 2026, with a view to taking further decisions as appropriate.
9. The commencement of an accession process is not a guarantee of membership and is instead a starting point for constructive discussions on the terms and conditions for an aspirant economy's accession, noting that conclusion requires the Commission's approval. We emphasise that the rigorous assessment of aspirant economies' compliance is essential to realising the benefits of market access liberalisation, including by ensuring that any illegal transhipment and related practices that evade or circumvent duties do not undermine CPTPP Parties' economies. This helps ensure that accessions increase the Agreement's value to our stakeholders.
10. Ongoing compliance with the Agreement is also critical, and we will work together to carefully monitor such compliance across the Agreement. We note that the CPTPP includes effective mechanisms and safeguards to address cases of non-compliance and other concerns, including the Commission, committees, and dispute settlement mechanisms.
11. We reiterate our commitment to maintaining the high standards of the Agreement through accessions, and to move forward in a way that reflects all our interests.

Facilitating trade through upgrading and improving the implementation of the Agreement

12. We underscore our commitment to ensuring the CPTPP remains of high standard and fit-for-purpose in addressing evolving challenges. In Melbourne, we are pleased to mark the conclusion of the first General Review of the CPTPP and endorse the recommendations outlined in the General Review Report at Annex C (hereby referred to as "the Report").
13. We thank officials for their work over three years on the General Review, informed by the 2023 Terms of Reference and the 2024 Vancouver Statement. We decide that, as a result of this Review, the Agreement's disciplines should be updated and enhanced through negotiations on the following: Electronic Commerce, Trade in Services, Customs Administration and Trade Facilitation, Competitiveness and Business Facilitation, and Trade and Women's Economic Empowerment. We task officials to commence negotiations from early 2026 to ensure the Report's recommendations are carried out in a timely manner.
14. To further enhance the implementation and operation of the Agreement's high standard provisions, we also task officials to finalise development of further initiatives identified in the Report, including on: Investment, State-Owned Enterprises, Innovation, Gender Mainstreaming, Economic Coercion, and Market Distorting Practices.
15. In addition to reviewing the CPTPP, we welcome the ongoing efforts to promote and report on business utilisation of the CPTPP, including:
    • We welcome the initiative by Malaysia to lead the proposed cooperation between the Trade Promotion Organisations (TPO) from all Parties with the objective to increase exports of the Parties and increase utilisation of the Agreement. We look forward to Malaysia taking further next steps to enhance the cooperation between the TPOs.
    • We recognise the importance of collaborative work on economic quantitative analysis to assess the benefits and impacts of the CPTPP. We welcome the report on the CPTPP quantitative analysis presented during the Commission meeting as a first step to continue our cooperation in this area. Such efforts will strengthen communication with external stakeholders and provide valuable insights into the Agreement's contribution to trade, investment, and sustainable growth.
16. We commit to establish a Unit that will provide administrative support in the stewardship of the Agreement's implementation and operation. In this regard, we task officials to commence discussion on the development of its functions, structure, and workplan, and report the outcomes to the Commission in 2026.

Spreading the benefits of trade

17. We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the CPTPP continues to be at the forefront of inclusive and sustainable trade arrangements. We highlight the value of the work undertaken by the Inclusive Trade Working Group in 2025 to improve understanding of the impacts of trade on women, Indigenous Peoples, micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and their contributions to trade and investment within and between CPTPP Parties. We note with interest the information session on disaggregated trade data collection and utilisation held in 2025, and encourage ongoing work in this area.
18. We share the view that the CPTPP provides tools to help address collective environmental challenges, including the unprecedented triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution which are mutually reinforcing and intrinsically linked. In that vein, we encourage the Environment Committee to continue enhancing efforts to tackle these crises.
19. We recognise the importance of continuing discussions on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems and acknowledge that economies should have the flexibility to set sustainability measures which best suit their unique domestic circumstances while ensuring trade remains fair and open.

2026 Commission Chair

20. We look forward to working together in 2026 with Viet Nam as CPTPP Chair to ensure that the CPTPP continues to play a key role in fostering economic integration and supporting the prosperity of our economies.

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 Association of Southeast Asian Nations

1. We, Ministers and Representatives of the Parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), held the inaugural CPTPP-ASEAN Trade and Investment Dialogue in Naarm/Melbourne, and virtually, on 20 November 2025 (Dialogue).
2. We reaffirm our support for ASEAN centrality in the ASEAN-led architecture, and implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which is based on the principles of sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, non-interference, consensus and unity in diversity. In line with the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and the ASEAN Economic Community Strategic Plan 2026-2030, we welcomed ASEAN's continued efforts to build a highly integrated and cohesive economy, as well as a competitive, innovative, and dynamic region that enables seamless trade and investment across and beyond Southeast Asia.
3. At the inaugural Dialogue, we reached a shared understanding that:
   1. Free, fair and open markets and rules-based trade have contributed to our prosperity and remain essential to our future economic growth and security;
   2. 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;
   3. 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;
   4. We will continue to work towards ensuring that economic growth is sustainable and that all our communities benefit from increased trade and investment;
   5. We reaffirm the importance of strengthening our resilience and competitiveness by strengthening global value and critical supply chains, fostering sustainable growth and deepening our understanding of vulnerabilities;
   6. 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
   7. Recognising the increasing importance of data to the digital economy, we will continue our cooperation on facilitating the flow of data, and strengthening business and consumer trust in digital transactions.
4. Acknowledging that the Dialogue took place during a 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 the incorporation of the Agreement on Electronic Commerce into the WTO legal framework and to bringing the Agreement into force. We noted the importance of ongoing multilateral and plurilateral discussions in promoting open, inclusive, and secure digital trade, including ASEAN's ongoing negotiations for a Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA). 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 the incorporation of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement into the WTO legal framework and to bringing the Agreement into force and recognised its potential 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 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.
5. Affirming our shared commitment to upholding fair and open trade that is transparent, predictable, and rules-based, the CPTPP-ASEAN shared understanding reflects the high standards of the CPTPP, as well as ASEAN's competitiveness and vibrancy as an integrated regional trading bloc. We recognise the importance of the CPTPP-ASEAN shared understanding in supporting sustainable growth, regional integration, fostering a predictable trading environment and advancing cooperation in the digital economy.
6. In order to further enhance the multilateral trading system, as well as to strengthen cooperation between the CPTPP Parties and ASEAN Member States, the Dialogue provided an opportunity for participants to explore tangible areas of cooperation, including:
   • Trade and Investment Facilitation: We discussed strategies on advancing trade and investment facilitation, including enhancing transparency and addressing non-tariff barriers. We acknowledged ongoing efforts within the CPTPP and ASEAN to reduce transaction costs and promote a predictable business environment in goods and services.
   • 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.
   • 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 the face of future disruptions.
   • Regulatory Coherence: We acknowledged the benefits of promoting greater regulatory cooperation and coherence to reduce trade frictions and facilitate business engagement.
7. We welcomed the successful convening of the inaugural Dialogue and decided to continue our constructive and forward-looking engagement at both ministerial and senior official levels. We decided to explore, where appropriate, potential areas for ongoing and practical cooperation.
8. We have hence instructed Senior Officials from CPTPP Parties and ASEAN Member States to plan towards our next Dialogue, to be held in 2026. We also committed to intensify our ongoing cooperation on necessary WTO reform and rulemaking in the lead up to MC14.

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

1. 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).
2. At the inaugural Dialogue, we reached a shared understanding that:
   1. Free and open markets and rules-based trade have contributed to our prosperity and remain essential to our future economic growth and security;
   2. 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;
   3. 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;
   4. We will continue to work towards ensuring that economic growth is sustainable and that all our communities benefit from increased trade and investment;
   5. 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;
   6. 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
   7. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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
7. 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

CPTPP General Review Report: Final Recommendations

Recalling the Terms of Reference for Conducting the General Review of CPTPP endorsed on 15 November 2023 under New Zealand's chair year, and the shared objectives for the first General Review of the Agreement, including our commitment to review the operation of the CPTPP to ensure the disciplines contained in the Agreement remain relevant to the trade and investment issues and challenges confronting the Parties;

Taking into account the recommendations of the Interim Report by Senior Officials to Ministers on Progress on the General Review of the CPTPP, endorsed on 28 November 2024, and the comprehensive assessments completed under Canada's stewardship of CPTPP, all of which underpinned the recommendations presented in this General Review Report;

Further recalling Ministers' instructions to Senior Officials in Jeju, the Republic of Korea, on 16 May 2025, and the commitment to ensure the CPTPP remains of high standard and fit-for-purpose in addressing evolving challenges; and

CPTPP Senior Officials have hereby completed this General Review Report ("the Report") which marks the completion of the first review of the CPTPP, as per Articles 27.1.2(b), 27.2.3 and 27.2.4 of the Agreement, and present to the Commission the recommendations listed below to update and enhance the Agreement, including through negotiations or enhanced cooperation between the Parties.

Accordingly, we recommend to the Commission that officials commence negotiations, on a without prejudice basis, on the following provisions and/or initiatives that relate to:

• Customs Administration & Trade Facilitation: including provisions on the authorised economic operators, post clearance, use of customs brokers, commitment to consistency of customs procedures, and establishment of a dedicated customs committee; and possible updates to existing provisions on advance rulings, review and appeal, automation, release of goods, publication and confidentiality.
• Trade in Services
  • Cross-Border Trade in Services: including enhancements to address evolving trade in services, including domestic regulation.
  • Financial Services: subject to consensus of all Parties, including enhancements to the chapter to reflect developments in sustainable finance, cross-border data flows, transparency, domestic regulation, and e-payments.
• Electronic Commerce: including provisions in areas such as on Artificial Intelligence, digital identities, online safety, and e-payments, and upgrading existing rules on issues including data flows, cybersecurity, and consumer protection.
• Competitiveness & Business Facilitation: including provisions for the strengthening of supply chain resilience based on shared principles, such as for crisis coordination; consideration of enhanced cooperation to support integration into global and regional value chains.
• Trade & Women's Economic Empowerment: including non-binding, cooperative provisions or a possible new chapter to advance women's participation and leadership in trade, complemented by gender mainstreaming across CPTPP committees.

We recognise the CPTPP is a living Agreement, capable of delivering sustainable and inclusive economic growth while addressing new and emerging issues through cooperation and collaboration. Accordingly, we recommend that officials:

• Investment: progress technical discussions for: a joint interpretative declaration on the dominant and effective nationality principle; a joint interpretative declaration that may apply to the National Treatment, Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment, and Minimum Standard of Treatment articles, and the right to regulate; and a decision to recognise the UNCITRAL Model Provisions on Mediation for International Investment Disputes (2023) as a non-binding reference for Parties to consider using for the consultation phase of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism in the Investment Chapter.
• State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs): undertake a member-led study on the relevance of modern treaty practice and OECD guidelines to the SOE definition with a view to assessing the necessity of any textual updates.
• Innovation: continue discussions to address specific challenges or opportunities that arise from innovation and technology and determine on terms of reference and a work plan for future engagement.
• Gender Mainstreaming: develop principles that provide high-level, non-binding guidance to CPTPP committees and working groups on areas to focus attention to improve women's economic empowerment and leadership, promote women-led businesses and encourage the removal of barriers to trade and investment for women entrepreneurs.
• Economic Coercion: consistent with, and building upon the Vancouver Statement, establish a platform for Parties' dialogue to share information on economic coercion, coordinate responses, and strengthen collective resilience.
• Market Distorting Practices: establish a platform for Parties' dialogue to deepen understanding of market-distorting practices, promote cooperation, and identify recommendations for next steps.

Next steps

Senior Officials recommend that relevant committees, working groups and subsidiary bodies adhere to the following parameters to implement the Report's recommendations:

• to meet in the first quarter of 2026 to develop an implementation workplan for endorsement by Senior Officials which outlines expected timeframes for negotiations to conclude and/or for cooperative activities to be undertaken; and
• progress on implementation of the Report's recommendations to be reported to the CPTPP Commission when it next meets, and in any case no later than the end of 2026.