Countries in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) are preparing to gather in Santiago, Chile, in two weeks to sign the updated trade accord, whose text was released publicly on Wednesday 21 February. The CPTPP is the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-country deal that was signed in February 2016. After the US withdrew last year, the remaining 11 countries decided to suspend a series of provisions in the original deal, along with ink some new side agreements, in order to move forward with the sweeping trade pact. (See Bridges Weekly, 11 February 2016 and 16 November 2017 ) Proponents of the CPTPP say that once the accord is signed and ratified, it could have a transformative effect on both its members and the wider global trading system, with comprehensive chapters on subjects such as the environment, labour rights, and e-commerce, among others. For some participating countries, the wider deal also marks the first time they will have had formal free trade agreements in place with some of the other countries involved – and therefore open up major market access opportunities for agricultural and manufactured goods, among others. “The trade agreement will create new opportunities...