David Parker
Wellington, February 21, 2018
I welcome the release of the text of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
New Zealand has been working hard to see the text made public as quickly as possible.
Public scrutiny of trade agreements is welcome and important.
We have been publishing detailed information about the CPTPP since November, and now people can see the full legal text for themselves.
An analysis suggests it could be worth up to $4 billion a year to the New Zealand economy once fully implemented.
Major Improvement
The Government and its trade negotiators has contributed to changes that meant the CPTPP was a major improvement for New Zealanders over the previous TPP.
Those changes included the suspension of 22 items in the earlier Agreement.
The suspensions mean that prior expensive changes to New Zealand’s intellectual property law and our medicine-buying agency Pharmac no longer apply.
The suspensions also narrow the scope of investor-state dispute settlement in the CPTPP, an area of particular concern to us.
It also includes commitments to safeguard and enforce labour and environmental standards and it upholds the Treaty of Waitangi.
And we have found a way to ban foreign buyers of existing homes.
Trade Opportunities
The trade agreement will create new opportunities for international trade, including preferential access for the first time to Japan, Canada, Mexico and Peru.
CPTPP has become more important because of the growing threats to the effective operation of the World Trade Organisation rules.
The full text of the CPTPP is available online at www.mfat.govt.nz
National Interest Analysis
The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry has also released today the National Interest Analysis of the CPTPP, which assesses the likely costs and benefits for New Zealand of entering into the Agreement.
The analysis concludes that it is in New Zealand’s national interest to ratify the agreement.
It estimates that the CPTPP will boost New Zealand’s economy by $1.2 billion to $4 billion a year once fully implemented. That’s a significant increase in a country where 620,000 jobs are dependent on exports.
At the same time, it outlines how the CPTPP protects New Zealand’s right to regulate in the public interest, including in such areas as health, education and the environment.
The National Interest Analysis is available online at ww.mfat.govt.nz.
It will be updated next month with more details of side letters that will be signed along with the agreement.
Public consultations continue
Public briefings and consultations on the CPTPP are continuing around the country. There will also be a full select committee and parliamentary examination process.
We are keen to keep hearing what New Zealanders think.
The CPTPP will be signed in Santiago, Chile, on March 8, 2018.
The 11 countries involved are New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
David Carter is Trade and Export Growth Minister of New Zealand.
