The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a proposed free trade deal between New Zealand, Australia, United States, Canada, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and Mexico, all of the Asia-Pacific region.
Negotiations began in 2005 and are expected to conclude in the next few weeks.
The major concern is that the TPPA has not been seen or made publicly available. The Labour Party has called on the Government to release the full text and until this detail is made available, we should all be concerned. It is expected that the Government will release the detail of the agreement after negotiations are complete. This is too late.
The Government is promoting the TPPA as an agreement that will grow economic links between these countries by opening up trade in good and services. While Labour supports free trade, we will not support a TPP agreement that undermines New Zealand's sovereignty. This means:
-The Treaty of Waitangi must be upheld.