November 10, 2017
Brinkmanship as TPPA down to wire
A observer of the process around the Trans Pacific Partnership says the Japanese Government is engaging in brinkmanship as it tries to get other countries to commit to what it wants on the 11-country deal.
There have been conflicting reports on progress coming out of the APEC summit in Vietnam, with the japans trade minister saying other counties have agreed in principle and the Canadians saying there are still major sticking points.
Professor Jane Kelsey says the pressure on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Trade Minister David Parker will be enormous, and they need to stick with their resolve to carve out exemptions for New Zealand on the ability of international companies to sue governments if laws or regulations change.
"That seems to have not been very forthcoming so far and one has to hope that in fact the Government will see this is such an important matter that it is not going to concede it in the hope of being able to sell a few more carcases of beef to Japan," she says.
Professor Kelsey says the new Government doesn’t seem to want to take up the issue of make the treaty of Waitangi exemption in the proposed deal stronger, and Labour’s Maori caucus needs to apply more pressure there.
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