CPTPP signed – let’s get working

Issued by the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF). 

9 March 2018 – The New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF) welcomes the signing in Santiago of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

“The signing of CPTPP is a bright moment in a world where trade is under threat from inward-looking protectionism” said NZIBF Executive Director Stephen Jacobi.

“While some appear poised to turn their backs on the benefits of the international trading system, CPTPP’s eleven members have chosen the path of openness and integration. The New Zealand Government and its allies across the Pacific are to be congratulated for taking this step” said Mr Jacobi.

Mr Jacobi said that the CPTPP signing was about securing sustainable growth and jobs.

“Some 623,000 jobs in New Zealand[1], and especially in the regions, are connected to trade. MFAT’s modelling report on the impact of CPTPP released today[2] also shows favourable impacts on exports, jobs and wages. These are gains which will flow back into the economy providing livelihoods for kiwi families and new resources for social progress.”

Mr Jacobi said CPTPP preserved the market access gains of the earlier agreement, albeit without the United States.

“CPTPP is about giving new opportunities to exporters especially in the four markets where we do not already have FTAs (Canada, Japan, Mexico and Peru). CPTPP also puts in place better trade rules which enhance the security of our trade and reduces the cost of doing business within all eleven economies”.

Mr Jacobi noted that under CPTPP the Treaty of Waitangi was fully protected, along with the Government’s continuing right to regulate in the national interest in areas like the environment and public health. CPTPP also put in place new environmental and labour provisions, binding all parties.

“CPTPP is a good deal for New Zealand, requiring little change to existing policies, but the gains will come only if six economies ratify and the agreement enters into force. From today we need to get cracking on the ratification process in New Zealand. We look for wide support from all parties in the New Zealand Parliament” concluded Mr Jacobi.

[1] Bailey and Ford 2017, Estimating New Zealand’s tradable and non-tradable sectors using Input-Output Tables, paper presented at the New Zealand Association of Economists Conference July 2017.

[2] https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Final-Report-CPTPP.PDF