A draft of part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal leaked to the Politico website suggests the US is demanding increased protections for pharmaceutical companies, restricting access to the lower-cost generic versions of drugs that agencies such as New Zealand’s Pharmac buy. The draft copy of the intellectual property chapter of the trade agreement as it stood on May 11, before the Guam negotiating …

The New Zealand dollar touched a fresh five-year low after dairy prices fell to a six-year low in the GlobalDairyTrade auction overnight, paced by whole milk powder, the nation’s key export commodity. The kiwi touched 67.27 US cents and was trading at 67.41 cents at 8am in Wellington, from 67.95 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index dropped to 70.73 from …

“While the New Zealand economy has gathered momentum over the last few years, it faces important challenges, including high private foreign liabilities, slowing demand from some trading partners, volatile international commodity prices, a strong exchange rate, and a highly-indebted farm sector. Moreover, New Zealand’s labour productivity and income per capita continue to lag behind OECD averages.” – WTO Secretariat Executive …