Trans Pacific trade deal passes third reading
WELLINGTON: One of the country’s most controversial trade deals has passed its third reading, paving the way for access to up to 480 million consumers across 11 countries.
The passing of The Comprehensive Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Parliament last night — with the support of all parties except the Greens — changes a number of laws to allow New Zealand to ratify the deal.
It will come into effect 60 days after New Zealand joins five other signatories — out of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam — in ratifying the agreement.
‘‘It goes beyond just reducing costs for business,’’ Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor said during the third reading.
‘‘It contains the most comprehensive outcomes on labour and the environment that New Zealand has ever achieved in a trade agreement.’’
The agreement has been the source of much controversy in recent years, but the dissension has died down since Labour took power and renegotiated the deal in an attempt to, among other things, protect Treaty of Waitangi principles, Pharmac, and New Zealand’s sovereignty.
Side letters have also been signed with Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Peru, Vietnam and Australia that narrow the scope for investorstate dispute settlement (ISDS) claims against New Zealand. New Zealand also has an agreement with Canada and Chile to use ISDS responsibly.
Mr O’Connor said the CPTPP would open access for exporters to 480 million consumers across 11 countries, including four with which New Zealand currently has no trade agreement.
It would also put New Zealand in a position to play a role in shaping the rules in the future global trade environment.
Notably, the Trump Administration withdrew the US from the TPP in 2017, putting it in doubt..
But the remaining countries persisted, and later that same year, the TPP was renamed the CPTPP after a number of changes were made to the deal.
These included revisions in the ISDS chapters, as well as changes to intellectual property rules.
This was welcomed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who said the Government wanted to take a different position on ISDS than its predecessors.
‘‘We pushed hard; the message we got back was had we been at the negotiation table ourselves, even a year earlier, what a difference it would have made,’’ she said at the time.