TPP trade deal: Labour may 'agree to disagree' with partners

Labour may "agree to disagree" with NZ First on adopting the newly rebranded Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

Negotiators agreed on the core principles of the deal, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, on the sidelines of last week's APEC Summit in Vietnam.

Labour secured changes to the deal which make it a "damn sight better than what we had before" according to Ardern but it's still not enough to get the support of the Green Party.

She knew that was the case after talking with Greens' leader James Shaw but she's not had the final word from coalition partner, NZ First leader Winston Peters.

"Within cabinet responsibility comes the ability to agree to disagree," the prime minister said.

"We're not in a position yet to know whether or not that is something that New Zealand First will want to do because we haven't got a final deal for them to consider."

Regardless of NZ First's position on the final agreement Labour will still have the majority support of parliament to pass legislation in order to ratify the deal, with a commitment from National to bring the deal to fruition.

Both Labour and NZ First had issues with controversial investor-state dispute settlement clauses which is one of the areas Kiwi negotiators found success in changing.

The changes, which include a side letter exempting trade between Australia and New Zealand from ISDS clauses and the pursuit of letters with other partner nations, have been enough to keep Labour happy.

That could be some time - four parts of the agreement have been suspended for further negotiation.