Hon Todd McClay

Minister of Trade
13 June 2016

Trade Minister welcomes RCEP negotiations

Trade Minister Todd McClay has used his speech to 500 trade delegates at today’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiation in Auckland to encourage negotiators to open their markets and be more ambitious.

In welcoming representatives from the 16 strong RCEP group of countries, Mr McClay said only through greater liberalisation and a focus on reducing non-tariff measures would the full benefits of the agreement be delivered for New Zealanders and the three billion people in RCEP countries.

RCEP is a 16 country FTA negotiation covering six of New Zealand’s top 10 trading partners including, China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Malaysia.

Negotiations have been underway for more than three years and Mr McClay says important progress has been made but there is still a lot to do.

“I have pressed delegates to use this round of negotiations to agree on a concrete path for better offers, so that tangible progress is made in goods and investment.

“It is extremely important that RCEP delivers on its full potential and therefore improved market access needs to be agreed.”

Mr McClay says it is also important to improve public engagement when negotiating FTAs.

“We need to better explain the necessity of trade and the benefits it can bring.

“As host for this round, New Zealand has sought to strike an appropriate balance between providing for this engagement while also ensuring there remains the time necessary to progress the substantive negotiations,” Mr McClay says.

A session with negotiators from a range of RCEP countries is being held at 3pm on Tuesday 14 June.

There will also be a discussion with New Zealand negotiators, which will be livestreamed on MFAT’s website at 5.30pm on Tuesday 14 June.

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