NZ US Council Welcomes TPP Negotiations

NZ US Council Welcomes Commencement of TPP Negotiations

The NZ US Council today welcomed the opening round of negotiations for an expanded Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) which is to commence in Melbourne on Monday 15 March.

“New Zealand and the United States are at last sitting down to negotiate – something this Council has been working towards for the last decade” said NZ US Council Executive Director Stephen Jacobi.

“That we are doing so in the context of a region-wide agreement involving eight partners is even better. It means we can build New Zealand’s FTA with the United States in the context of openness with the wider region and make concrete progress towards the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP)”.

In November 2009 President Obama confirmed that the United States would engage with TPP and this was formally notified to Congress in December. The eight parties meeting in Melbourne are Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Viet Nam. TPP is an existing FTA linking Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.

“Negotiators have a long and complex task ahead of them” said Mr Jacobi. “There is a lot of work to do to build a high standard agreement that reflects new models of trade and investment and to reconcile the objectives of the various parties. What is important is that everything is on the table at the outset and that negotiators are given the time to work patiently through the issues.”

Mr Jacobi said the fact that negotiations were about to commence also reflected the very healthy state of the relationship between New Zealand and the United States.

“The relationship today is as good as it has ever been and the commencement of trade negotiations marks the beginning of a new phase. To get to this point has required considerable effort on the part of successive New Zealand Governments and US Administrations and their officials, encouraged and supported by the NZ US Council and the US NZ Council in Washington”.

ENDS