The trade association for the Scotch whisky industry has welcomed the UK’s pending accession to the Comprehensive & Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership [CPTPP], which will remove tariffs on exports to Malaysia for the first time.
Last week, the UK Government announced the successful conclusion of negotiations to join the trade bloc, framed as “delivering new opportunities for growth in a way that is tailored to the UK’s economy”. Of the subsequent trade benefits, the announcement highlighted the elimination of Malaysia’s 80% duty on whisky from the UK “over time”.
Following the news, the Scotch Whisky Association was upbeat, though flagged a free trade agreement with India as being the ‘Holy Grail’ for its members.
“Exports of Scotch whisky to the CPTPP countries have grown significantly in the past decade, collectively reaching more than GBP1.1bn [US$1.36bn] in 2022,” said chief executive Mark Kent. “With the potential for more countries to join CPTPP in the coming years, Scotch whisky will benefit from further liberalisation in the region.
“We now look forward to continuing to work with the UK Government to build on this progress and ensure Scotch whisky can continue to thrive in priority markets around the world,” Kent added. “This starts with achieving a good deal in the UK-India FTA, from which a reduction of the 150% tariff could see exports of Scotch whisky grow to over GBP1bn in five years.”
The CPTPP's members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Of the 11 countries, two - Singapore and Japan - appeared in Scotch whisky's top ten export markets chart for last year.
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