ISDS Case Map
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea’s trade Minister, Richard Maru, recently set a cat amongst the pigeons by saying that PNG was not interested in the regional trade negotiations known as PACER-Plus. “We can’t export our taro there, they won’t accept our greens...There’s nothing to be gained from a trade agreement at the moment. ‘We cannot justify the huge amount of resources we expend on such negotiations. They are a complete waste of time.”
ASEAN trade officials, along with its six partners, kicked off talks on a regional trade agreement in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, on Thursday. The talks began with the establishment of the trade negotiating committee that would discuss various trade and investment issues until next Monday, Trade Ministry director general for international trade cooperation Iman Pambagyo said.
“We will not handle these sensitivities in agriculture, autos or whatever, by exclusions from trade liberalization,” NZ trade negotiator Tim Groser told the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
The New Zealand government is likely to ratify a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states within 12 months, a senior official said.
NZ Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has signed a Strategic Plan on Promoting Agricultural Cooperation between New Zealand and China.
There is a risk that tobacco companies will try and mount legal challenges against any legislation, as we have seen in Australia. The Government will wait and see what happens with Australia’s legal cases, making it a possibility that if necessary, enactment of New Zealand legislation and/or regulations could be delayed pending those outcomes.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is confident America will sign one of the world’s largest free trade deals, because its economic hands are tied. “How on earth, if you’re Obama, do you actually stimulate the economy and get jobs? The only way through it for him is basically through exporting, and the fastest way to do that in volume is in Asia. That’s why we think Americans will actually do the deal,” he says.
The smile on John Key's face widened as broad as the sombrero that Juan Manuel Santos had just given him, when the Colombian President said, "We would love to have an FTA with New Zealand when they are ready to start negotiations."
Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos says he would like to negotiate a free trade agreement with New Zealand.
Lawsuits are seen as the inevitable next step if plain packaging of cigarettes is brought in.
The government will announce a decision on the matter in the next few days.
