No guarantees for NZ policies in trade talks

09 Dec 2010

Source:  National Business Review
The NZ Government is offering no guarantees that New Zealand policies will not be changed to accommodate United States concerns in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

The fourth round of negotiations for the free trade agreement, encompassing New Zealand, the US, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, began in Auckland yesterday and will continue until Friday.
The Green Party have warned a number of New Zealand policies could come under attack by the US in the negotiations.
"The current TPP negotiations are about far more than trade," Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said.
"New Zealand's ability to make its own laws and regulations is currently in the hands of officials meeting behind closed doors in Auckland."

In Parliament today, Dr Norman raised specific concerns about US problems with compulsory GE labelling rules and foreign investment legislation, asking the Government to guarantee New Zealand laws would not be weakened in the negotiations.

Answering on behalf of Trade Minister Tim Groser, Murray McCully said there were a number of negotiation rounds to go and he would not speculate on how those might go.

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