Eco campaigners go ape over UK’s latest Brexit deal

UK preparing to lift tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia as price for joinging CPTPP trade agreement

Britain is preparing to sign off on a post-Brexit trade deal that campaigners say will encourage further destruction of nature, threaten the habitat of orangutans in Malaysia and make a mockery of the government’s claims of being committed to tackling deforestation abroad.

UK negotiators are finalising terms of entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – an agreement that the government has long held up as an example of the country’s ability to trade globally after leaving the European Union.

Ministers will reportedly sacrifice import tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia, a product blamed for widespread deforestation, as a price for joining the 21-member regional trade agreement, following two years of negotiations.