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A new government! And just in time ... the TPPA-11 is scheduled to be signed at a meeting in Vietnam on 11 November.
Sign on to the open letter telling Jacinda not to commit New Zealand to the TPPA-11 and other trade negotiations until New Zealanders’ voices have been heard.
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Kia ora koutou katoa,
The change in government is great news for New Zealanders concerned about the TPPA-11. While a Labour-led government does not by any means guarantee the end of the agreement, it is a necessary first step so far as New Zealand's involvement is concerned.
The TPPA-11 negotiations have been progressing all year towards a ministerial meeting from 10-11 November 2017 in Vietnam (on the sidelines of APEC). The most current information we have suggests that the parties are still very far apart — there were reportedly 50 items in the TPPA agreement which are up for amendment, deletion or suspension (pending the unlikely return of the USA to the agreement) at the last round of negotiations. In the words of former Trade Minister Todd McClay, if the TPPA-11 is opened up to renegotiation it will take "a very, very long time". The nominal deadline of 11 November is based on the assumption that the TPPA-11 will be a carbon copy of the original TPPA.
The new New Zealand government is likely to throw another big spanner in the works if they stick to their guns on their policies. Labour has a clearly stated policy of restricting foreign ownership of existing housing stock, which will require substantive renegotiation of the agreement, as will their proposed government procurement policy. New Zealand First and the Greens have both strongly criticised additional elements of the TPPA, particularly the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions.
Where the government will take these positions in practice is unclear. On one hand, Winston Peters was very clear in his opposition to ISDS when announcing the coalition government. And Jacinda also appeared (somewhat) on board at the media stand-up after the coalition agreement was signed. On the other hand, Jacinda seems pretty keen for the agreement itself to go ahead.
It is for this reason that It's Our Future and our friends at ActionStation have prepared the open letter to urge Jacinda to stick to her guns, and not commit New Zealand to any trade or investment agreements until New Zealanders have had their voices heard. Under National, the TPPA and TPPA-11 negotiations took place under extreme secrecy with no meaningful public consultation. Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens now have a chance to change this.
Please sign on to the open letter and share widely. The URL for the campaign page is: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/p/open-letter-on-tppa-11.
For an overview on where things are with the TPPA-11, check out the newly updated IOF website here: https://itsourfuture.org.nz/tppa-1/
Professor Jane Kelsey has also been active as always. Her recent blogposts covering the post-election developments are below:
Ngā mihi koutou, keep posted and please get in touch at itsourfuturenz@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.
Stephen Parry
It’s Our Future Coordinator
Itsourfuturenz@gmail.com
www.itsourfuture.org.nz
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