New Zealand Chairing the CPTPP Commission
It will be New Zealand’s turn to host the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission in 2023, with trade ministers from the 11 member countries converging in Auckland in July.
New Zealand will look to address the agreement’s e-commerce provisions in response to the Waitangi Tribunal’s ruling regarding risks to Māori interests.
While the focus has been on the United Kingdom’s accession process, the group of economies wanting to join continues to grow. China, Chinese Taipei, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Uruguay have all applied, while Thailand and South Korea are also interested. With such a long listy of aspiring CPTPP members, there certainly is a lot of momentum behind the free trade group.
New Zealand-Untied Kingdom Free Trade Agreement
The NZ-UK FTA is currently being debated in the House of Lords in the UK, having already passed through the House of Commons.
Lamb meat exports to the UK has apparently been the focus of heated debate. A report from the House of Commons International Trade Committee has recommended the free trade agreement be ratified – report here. ExportNZ expects the UK to ratify the FTA in the coming months and for the Agreement to come into force shortly after.
Supply Chains and Logistics
Domestic
ExportNZ recently commented in a couple of supply chains articles this week for BusinessDesk and Newsroom. New Zealand is trending slower than the global trend in terms of shipping costs and delays. However, these issues are better than they have been in recent months and that trend should continue.
Domestically, port infrastructure is seen as a big risk and it will be important to get the Port of Tauranga berth extension approved to deal with future demand growth and capacity issues. Ports of Auckland also has clear constraints to its ability to expand its capacity at its current location.
Tropical Cyclone Hale which affected the upper half of the North Island last week has caused some disruptions but Ports are reporting that schedule integrity has been maintained.
International
Global supply chain pressures decreased in December 2022. The Global Supply Chain Pressure Index has fallen from a high of 4.31 in December 2021 to 1.18 in December 2022. Issues in Asia are reportedly slowing the index’s return to normal historic levels, added to this China’s reopening and loosening of COVID restrictions will benefit the world in the long term, but could cause supply chain slowdowns in the short-term.
According to Sea Intelligence, global schedule reliability jumped to 56.6 per cent reliability in November (from 51.9 per cent the previous month per cent). Global service reliability continues to be well below pre-Covid normality (around 75-80 per cent) but shows improving conditions in the global supply chain sector.
The average delay for late vessels fell again, and now sits just above five days in November, another year-on-year improvement in 2021 and also comparatively better than November 2020.
Credit: Sea Intelligence, December 2022
MPI: Food & Beverage Draft Industry Transformation Plan
The Ministry for Primary Industries released the Food & Beverage Draft Industry Transformation Plan in early December for consultation.
MPI has divided the plan into four ‘transformation’ with 16 proposed actions.
- Orienting the sector towards consumers and the market,
- Increasing investment in innovation and attracting capital for growth,
- Building capability to innovate, commercialise, and improve productive capacity,
- Regulatory setting enabling food innovation.
ExportNZ will be submitting feedback on the draft plan And is keen to hear feedback from F&B exporters, especially in regard to the chapter regarding regulatory settings as it is critical for the Ministry to have feedback on exporter experiences of the regulatory environment.
You can read the full Draft Plan here. The consultation period until 5th March, ExportNZ will be in touch with F&B members soon, but if you would like to get in contact with us, please email: [email protected].
MBIE: Increasing Value From Government Investment in the New Zealand Screen Production Grant [Submission Completed]
The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage conducted a review of the Screen Production Grant (SPG) system.
ExportNZ submitted on the review and highlighted the economic benefits a competitive SPG gives to New Zealand. Studies show that each dollar of the NZSPG provides between $2.58 and $6.15 of economic benefit to New Zealand. ExportNZ also spoke of the indirect benefits such as an increase in tourism interest and the development of skilled workers in the industry that move into different parts of the creative sector. ExportNZ encouraged the ministries to continue to nurture and support the growing international film production industry in New Zealand and to collaborate with the sector to come to a clear and positive outcome on the NZSPG.