Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): Can I just start by thanking all those engaged in processing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Legislation Bill so far: from members of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee members of Parliament and the civil society and business representatives. Your engagement has been a very critical part of this process.It's no secret that the international trading regime is under enormous pressure a trend that has intensified as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand businesses and exports in particular have been facing challenging times but we have also seen how resilient they have been. Our Government recognises how important it is to support these businesses and RCEP is part of that. It is an agreement which reduces trade barriers facilitates trade and provides new market access. RCEP is important in supporting our trade-led recovery from COVID-19. RCEP is also critical to our engagement internationally. Joining RCEP ensures that we will be at the table where decisions affecting our interests will be taken and it reinforces our place in the region and sends a very important signal of New Zealand's continued openness to trade and the importance of rules-based trade. Most of the obligations under RCEP are met through New Zealand's existing legal frameworks and policy regimes. The RCEP bill makes a small number of legislative amendments that are needed to ratify RCEP. The bill was introduced in the House on 4 May 2021 as an omnibus bill that amends the Tariff Act 1988 the Tariff and the Customs and Excise Act 2018. Broadly the bill will enable the application of preferential tariff rates under RCEP. It will enable the application of transitional safeguard measures under appropriate circumstances on imports originating from RCEP parties and the issue of New Zealand certificates of origin in respect of goods for export to the RCEP parties. RCEP will also be implemented through regulations which will amend the Tariff to enable the application of preferential tariff rates for imports originating from RCEP parties and the Customs and Excise Regulations 1996 to give effect to the rules of origin applicable to imports into New Zealand that originate from RCEP parties. The Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee extensively examined the bill and received submissions from the public civil society and business representatives. The select committee recommend that the bill proceed without any amendments. So why is it important that we are ratifying RCEP? Firstly it is a mechanism to create new opportunities for international trade for New Zealanders contributing to and improving the wellbeing and living standards for all New Zealanders. Although RCEP does not offer the same level of tariff liberalisation as some previous free-trade agreements bringing the broader region into a single rulebook covering all 15 markets will significantly reduce complexity and therefore compliance costs for exporters. This is a substantial achievement. Services investments are where big gains will be made but there are also advancements in addressing non-tariff barriers. As the Minister of Customs I must also highlight the benefit RCEP brings through enabling trade behind the border. This includes setting expectations for perishable goods like our seafood to be released within six hours of its arrival even when outside the usual business hours of customs administration. These procedural changes will create a significant benefit for New Zealand's perishable goods exporters. These trade benefits are material. About half of New Zealand jobs are from the tradable sector and independent modelling predicts that once the agreement is fully in effect New Zealand's annual GDP will be between 0.3 percent and 0.6 percent larger as a result. That amounts to $1.5 billion to $3.2 billion in annual GDP.But RCEP's importance is more than what it achieves in terms of outcomes for our economy. It demonstrates New Zealand's commitment to cooperate with other trading economies our commitment to ASEAN and to the wider Indo-Pacific region. RCEP demonstrates even in challenging times that Governments are able to come together make compromises and strike deals that will lift each other up. RCEP is more than a sum of all its parts.So in closing RCEP demonstrates that New Zealand does not pursue trade cooperation just for its own sake. RCEP will enable future cooperation between RCEP parties across trade and economic matters and it preserves the rights that New Zealand holds close: the right to regulate for legitimate public policy purposes and to uphold our Treaty of Waitangi obligation. This bill will enable New Zealand to ratify RCEP be part of the agreement and to see the benefits from it.