On 8 March 2018, the CPTPP was signed by Ministers and representatives from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The CPTPP entered into force for Australia on 30 December 2018. The United Kingdom formally joined CPTPP on 15 December 2024.
The CPTPP contains chapters typically found in a free trade agreement relating to the removal of tariff barriers, rules of origin and non-tariff barriers, access for business persons, investment, and intellectual property. However, CPTPP also went beyond this practice to include new commitments and ambitious rules, including on government procurement, electronic commerce, labour and environmental standards, competition with state-owned enterprises, regulatory coherence, transparency and anti-corruption, and small and medium-sized enterprises.