King Annette: Third Readings — 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
King Annette: Third Readings — 
[Sitting date: 24 July 2008. Volume:648;Page:17413. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Acting Minister of Trade) 
: 
 I move  
That the Tariff Amendment Bill the Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 4) the Radiocommunications Amendment Bill (No 5) the Fair Trading Amendment Bill (No 2) and the Electricity Amendment Bill (No 3) be now read a third time. 
 The bills amend New Zealand’s domestic legislation so that the free-trade agreement between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of the People’s Republic of China can come into force on 1 October 2008. Securing this comprehensive free-trade agreement was a major achievement for New Zealand and this Labour-led Government. It took more than 3 years and 15 rounds of negotiations to reach the deal. The agreement liberalises and facilitates trade in goods and services and in investment removes barriers to trade and promotes cooperation in a broad range of economic areas between New Zealand and China our third-largest individual trading partner.  
Initial tariff cuts will take place when the agreement comes into force. This will result in the immediate elimination of tariffs on over $200 million worth of current New Zealand exports to China. Tariffs on 96 percent of our exports to China will be phased out by 2017. The removal of tariffs and other obstacles to trade will give our businesses a competitive head start in the fastest-growing economy in the world. New Zealand exports to China will now total $2 billion a year and will continue to grow. That will create opportunities for a better standard of living and more jobs for New Zealanders. The agreement contains measures to make it easier to do business by improving customs procedures and by enhancing the cooperation between officials in technical areas. It also has rules to counter unfair trade. It aims to reduce barriers to trade and services between the two countries and to provide additional protection for investors. 
The bill enables the agreement to be brought into force. The Tariff Act 1988 will be amended so that tariff cuts can be applied. Amendments to the Customs and Excise Act 1996 will create a system for issuing certificates of origin for goods exported from New Zealand to China to ensure our exports benefits from preferential tariffs. Amendments to the Fair Trading Act 1986 the Electricity Act 1992 and the Radiocommunications Act 1989 will mean that conformity of agreement on electrical and electronic equipment can be put into place. 
New Zealand is the first developed country to seize the opportunity of negotiating and concluding an agreement with China. Being first will give New Zealand for a time a unique competitive advantage. This will better enable us to strengthen existing commercial relationships and to create new ones. New Zealand businesses are already leveraging off the deal.  
As the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee noted in its report back to the House on the treaties and the bill the agreement is important because it contributes to New Zealand’s strategic trade objectives including the objective of broadening and deepening relationships in Asia. The agreement is also significant in the wider international trade context. It goes towards New Zealand’s goal to strengthen economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region and is being seen internationally as a pointer to enhance cooperation in our region. New opportunities for free-trade agreements are being explored with Korea Japan and India and they have gained some momentum from the success of completing the China free-trade agreement. The Government’s confidence in the agreement is shared by a wide range of New Zealand businesses and industry groups which have publicly welcomed the successful negotiations of the agreement and are looking forward to its enforcement. 
I acknowledge the hard work and skill of the negotiating team led by David Walker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I acknowledge the role played by the Prime Minister Helen Clark and Minister of Trade Phil Goff in intervening to support the negotiations when required. I thank members of the Opposition for their support with this agreement. The New Zealand - China free-trade agreement has huge economic and strategic significance for New Zealand. The enactment of these bills will allow New Zealand businesses to begin benefiting from tariff cuts and from the trade facilitating measures contained in the agreement from 1 October 2008. I commend these bills to the House.