O'Connor DamienTRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (CPTPP) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth): I move That the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.The purpose of this legislation is to enable New Zealand to meet the obligations in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement when the CPTPP enters into force for New Zealand. This will occur 60 days after New Zealand and at least five other signatories have ratified the agreement.In order to implement the CPTPP changes are needed to the following legislation and I'll list those. Firstly changes are needed to the Tariff Act 1988 so that New Zealand can provide preferential tariff rates for CPTPP countries. The bill also provides for the imposition of safeguards on CPTPP imports if for example goods from another party are causing injury to domestic industry. The second piece of legislation is the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996. It will be amended to extend the comment period for technical regulations that are notified under the relevant provision of this Act from 30 days out to 60 days. Thirdly the Legislation Act 2012 will be amended to lift investment screening thresholds for significant business assets from $100 million to $200 million for relevant investors. Fourthly the bill amends the Copyright Act 1994 to provide new rights for performers and additional enforcement mechanisms for pirated copyright works. The Patents Act of 2013 will be amended to provide a 12-month grace period for patent applications if inventors disclose their inventions to the public. The Trade Marks Act 2002 will be amended to provide additional enforcement mechanisms for trade mark infringements. And some changes will also be made to the Wine Regulations of 2006 to restrict the export of wine labelled ice wine" unless it is made from grapes frozen on the vine.As the Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker has outlined previously to the House here the CPTPP will bring commercial strategic and sustainability benefits to New Zealand. For these reasons the legislation has this coalition Government's support minus one party. In terms of sustainability the CPTPP goes beyond just reducing costs for business; it contains the most comprehensive outcomes on labour and environment that New Zealand has ever achieved in a trade agreement. These are legally enforceable for the first time. Suspensions and side letters negotiated since the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have reduced the risk of investor-State dispute settlement being used. The CPTPP preserves New Zealand's right to make laws to protect the public interest and our environment and it upholds the Treaty of Waitangi. Commercially the CPTPP also matters. It gives New Zealand improved trading conditions with 480 million consumers across 11 countries including four of our top 10 trading partners and four countries—Japan Mexico Canada and Peru—where we do not yet have a trade agreement. This grouping already buys around one-third of New Zealand's goods and service exports and we expect this to grow creating more jobs and better standards of living for all New Zealanders.Finally the CPTPP is important strategically. At a time when we are seeing serious and growing challenges to the global trade environment it is more important than ever for New Zealand to be part of an agreement that provides for a robust set of international trade rules in our region as well as for New Zealand to be in a position to help shape and inform these rules into the future.I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who's contributed to the legislation: the previous Ministers involved in the negotiating of the TPP but more particularly Minister Parker; the chair of the select committee Simon O'Connor and all other members of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee; the Parliamentary Counsel Office; the officials; and members of the public and industry representatives who have participated in the various submission processes.I'd also like to acknowledge the recent committee of the whole House and thank the New Zealand National Party and the New Zealand First Party for their work on and their support of this legislation. Lastly I would like to again thank all the officials for their hard work and their dedication throughout the challenging negotiation process to deliver CPTPP—a comprehensive and progressive agreement for New Zealand. It is a tremendous achievement that they should feel very proud of. I commend this bill to the House and I move that it be read a third time."