Britain's pharma welcomes UK-Japan trade deal

The UK has secured a free trade agreement with Japan, which is the UK’s first major trade deal as an independent trading nation and will increase trade with Japan by an estimated £15.2 billion ($19.4 billion), the UK Department of International Trade announced today, and which Trade Secretary Liz Truss called “a historic moment for the UK and Japan as our first major post-Brexit trade deal.”

As far as the pharmaceutical sector is concerned, this will allow drugmakers in the UK to continue trading largely as they do now, come January 1, 2021 when the Brexit transition ends, says the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

Critically, as part of the Free Trade Agreement, the UK and Japan will incorporate the functions of the existing EU/Japan Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for medicines which will see both sides continue to accept each other’s drug safety testing and inspections before export.