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Revised TPP agreement to be released

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 21 Feb 2018, 5:42AM
Jacinda Ardern confirmed the wording looked set to finally be made public, along with a report explaining its effects on New Zealand. (Photo \ Getty Images)
Jacinda Ardern confirmed the wording looked set to finally be made public, along with a report explaining its effects on New Zealand. (Photo \ Getty Images)

Revised TPP agreement to be released

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 21 Feb 2018, 5:42AM

The release of the full text of the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement will hopefully "demystify" worries about some of the deal's more controversial parts, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

The deal's 11 member countries - including New Zealand - reached agreement in January and are due to sign the pact in Chile next month.

But the full text of the deal - now called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific partnership (CPTPP) - has not yet been released to the public.

Ardern previously expressed frustration with the delay in getting it out, saying disputes about translations between some states were holding up the release.

On Tuesday, she confirmed the wording looked set to finally be made public, along with a report explaining its effects on New Zealand.

"We've been very eager to be as transparent as possible ... so (are) pleased we'll be able to share that with the public," she told media.

"My expectation is it will be tomorrow (Wednesday)."

The deal was a major policy goal for the previous National government, and was put on ice before undergoing new talks when United States president Donald Trump withdrew his country.

The Labour Party also attempted to renegotiate some of its more controversial elements in November.

"We pushed hard on areas where I think there was natural opposition and we made massive gains," Ardern said.

"I'm hoping that with us now being able to reveal the full nature of the text we'll be able to demystify some of the concerns that have existed."

The changes since the original agreement include: full protection for Pharmac, a significant narrowing of a highly controversial element that allowed companies to sue governments over policies and dropping an extension to copyright lengths, according to New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The first version of the pact - the world's largest free-trade to date - was signed in Auckland in early 2016 with mass protests outside the event.

Outgoing opposition leader Bill English on Tuesday was taking a wait-and-see approach, saying the party had long supported the TPP but that the issue would be left to its next, yet-to-be-decided leader.

However, the Government will need National support if it wants to get the agreement across the line.

Greens co-leader James Shaw still says that it's not for them.

"Some of those measures that are suspended are only suspended, and of course if the United States does choose to come into it at some point in the future, then those policies go back in. So we just think that it's a risk not worth taking.

"The fact is that it still contains investor state dispute settlement mechanisms which even the side letters don't cover."

That mechanism allows companies to sue a Government if a law impacts on them.

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