Trade update October CPTPP, RCEP, Pacific alliance and more... CPTPPWith New Zealand and Canada having ratified the CPTPP Agreement late last week we are now just one member away from the agreement coming into force. If all goes well Australia might ratify...
The Northern Hemisphere is back up and running and there is plenty happening.New Zealand Chief Trade Negotiator in the UK and EuropeMFAT Deputy Secretary Vangelis Vitalis is heading for the UK and will be participating in a public debate on 25 September about whether...
August Trade UpdateTrade policy is dominated by Northern hemisphere countries. August is the height of summer in most places so the WTO shuts down, politicians and senior officials go off on holiday. It is not a good time to be suggesting the next round of...
July Trade UpdateOn the positive side of the ledger New Zealand began FTA negotiations with the EU this week. Negotiations with the Pacific Alliance are continuing and progressing positively. There is increasing evidence that principle will be sacrificed for...
June Trade UpdateEU FTA Negotiations launchedSome six months later than anticipated the EU-New Zealand FTA negotiations are now officially launched. This is a historic and positive development. But this will not be an easy...
May Trade UpdateAs this is written there is a mixture of good and bad news on the trade front. The best news is that the threatened US-China trade war may have been averted (for now). The latest round of negotiations on the expansion of the...
April Trade UpdateIt has been an incredibly active month in the trade policy arena. At one level a trade war looms between the US and China. Others such as the EU might get involved. At another our PM did great work in Paris, London...
March Trade UpdateCPTPPCPTPP has been signed. We now need to get it ratified fast. Once six members have ratified the agreement it comes into force. While in Chile for the signing ceremony New Zealand, Canada and Chile agreed to work...
February Trade UpdateCPTPPThe Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership is due for signature in Santiago, Chile on 8 March 2018.The text of the agreement has also been released along with a revised National Interest Analysis.Following...
January Trade UpdateTPP - Breakthrough or is there more to worry about?What is it about trade agreements and TPP (now called CPTPP)? Why is final agreement often not final agreement and why do they risk unravelling?In the case of TPP we have been here...
December Trade UpdateCPTPPMore information is emerging on what went wrong in Da Nang at the negotiations on what was known as TPP. Canada, for reasons unknown, turned up to the meeting without a mandate to conclude negotiations. To its surprise...
November Trade UpdateTPP now known as CPTPPAfter a tough and confusing few days in Da Nang TPP has emerged with a new name (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership), four minor issues outstanding, and it has maintained its 11 members...