NZ/EU FTA A BONUS FOR SOME SECTORS – BUSINESS FORUM

Remove

NZIBF acknowledges the passage of the implementing legislation for the New Zealand/European Union Free Trade Agreement and looks forward to the FTA’s entry into force on 1 May.

read more

IPEF SUPPLY CHAIN AGREEMENT – A USEFUL BUT MODEST STEP – BUSINESS FORUM

by | May 29, 2023 | Featured Articles, Media Releases

Remove

Media release, 29 May 2023

“Supply chains are the arteries of global trade – any moves to make them function more efficiently and make sure they are resilient in times of crisis are to be welcomed”, says NZIBF Executive Director Stephen Jacobi.

Mr Jacobi was reacting to the announcement from Detroit that the 14 members of the Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) have substantially concluded a Supply Chain Agreement.

“This new agreement could provide some useful if modest mechanisms for participating economies to identify and monitor critical supply chains, discuss developments and react quickly in times of crisis, such as we saw during the recent pandemic. Provided these undertakings are acted upon, they could provide some practical reassurance and support to companies moving goods and services across multiple jurisdictions”.

Mr Jacobi said however such collaborative mechanisms will go only so far to avoiding future supply chain disruption.

“We have yet to see the detail of the agreement but it would appear that these measures are not legally binding on the economies, not subject to any dispute settlement and not accompanied by commitments prohibiting export and import bans, eliminating unnecessary and expensive tariffs and especially non-tariff barriers or actionable commitments to keep supply chains open. These sorts of problems all arose during the pandemic, frustrating in some cases the pandemic response, and we need to avoid them happening in the future”.

Mr Jacobi noted that important supply chains in the Asia Pacific would be left out of the scope of the agreement which further reduced its impact. He said it would be interesting to see how the relationship between this agreement and the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been expressed.

“Global trade needs above all the security provided by global rules which apply equally to all members of the WTO. Regional undertakings can support the multilateral trading system when they recognise the primacy of the WTO, are developed in an open and non-exclusionary manner and are open to accessions by partners willing to meet the required standards”, concluded Mr Jacobi.

Note: IPEF Members are the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, India, Fiji, and seven ASEAN countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).

REGISTER WITH TRADE WORKS

Register to stay up to date with latest news, as well as saving and discussing articles you’re interested in.

 

Remove

 

Latest News

To go or woe with the WTO?

We’ve been here before with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).   The global trade body’s 13th Ministerial meeting (“MC13”) opens in Abu Dhabi on Monday 26 February, with Trade Minister McClay serving as Vice-Chair.  In recent weeks diplomats, trade...

SUBMISSION TO THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

GENERAL REVIEW OF THE COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE AGREEMENT FOR TRANS- PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP) DECEMBER 2023 Summary This submission is made on behalf of the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF). As individual NZIBF Members may make their own...

2023 – Steps forward and back

Trade liberalisation moved forward and backward in 2023.  Some notable gains have been achieved for New Zealand, but war, geo-political rivalry and global inflation continue to depress global markets. While the pandemic continued to lurk in the shadows, 2023 was the...

NZIBF 2023 Chair Report

I am pleased to present my third report on the activities and achievements of the NZ International Business Forum (NZIBF) for 2023-24, our sixteenth year of operations.  I am grateful to all Members and to our executive team for your continuing support. As I...

Of APEC, CPTPP and IPEF

While New Zealand was sorting out its new Government, the alphabet soup which is trade got a good stirring in San Francisco.  This was APEC Leaders’ week, the annual gathering of Leaders, Ministers, business people and other stakeholders from the 21 economies of...