“We’re not on a burning platform” – TPP not at any cost says Kim Campbell

EMA CEO Kim Campbell says if the TPP deal is?not right, “New Zealand will walk away.”

As one of the first nations to embrace bilateral free trade agreements, New Zealand has learnt a number of lessons when it comes to international trade agreements Campbell told the TPP Stakeholders Day. “They must be high quality, they must be fair to all and they must be aspirational.

” These three qualities were ideas that virtually all New Zealand business people agree on.”

Campbell said restricting foreign trade would be a disaster for New Zealand. As an isolated, exporting nation, New Zealand is reliant on trade reflected by it’s ranking as Forbes most open economy.?For TPP to work and be a success for New Zealand, the agreement “must be reciprocal with ultimately the same access to all markets on the same basis”. ?Campbell added that the agreement “should not negate the rights of of any country to protect its citizens health, unscrupulous market practices, or protect its environment.”

A key for New Zealand if negotiations were to progress was obviously agricultural access. “Agricultural access is essential. The only part of agricultural access that may differ between signatory countries is the timing when access might occur or barriers to access are reduced.”

Campbell expected that all TPP countries would adopt a full access model with minimum possible compliance costs. He?was firm in his belief however that if the deal was not right for New Zealand, there was a time where the negotiating team would walk away. “We’re not on a burning platform. We don’t absolutely need TPP.”