McClay ToddTRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon TODD McCLAY (Minister of Trade): I move That the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Amendment Bill be now read a third time. New Zealand has shown leadership on the liberalisation of trade for the last 30 years. We do so because our livelihood as an exporter of goods and services depends on this. Trade is essential to the New Zealand way of life our standard of living and our potential to become a more prosperous country. Other countries do not owe New Zealand a living. Our success in the international market place whether it is selling butter financial and digital services education services or high-end manufactured goods is not always recognised. However we have achieved this only because New Zealand Governments have made the objective of liberalising international trade providing access for innovative New Zealand companies to the international markets and overseas customers at the very heart of our foreign and trade policies. Now more than ever before New Zealand needs to continue to work towards bringing down barriers to international trade. New Zealand needs to trade. We will not become prosperous by selling to ourselves. The rest of the world needs to hold up New Zealand as an example of the benefits of an open and liberal approach.Improving access to international markets is part of the Government's wider plan to create a stronger economy with more jobs and higher incomes for New Zealanders. We can be proud of the achievements of successive Governments to date to achieve this through trade. New Zealand's future lies in being an open confident country on the world stage. We need others to be open and confident too. The OECD suggested that a 10 percentage point increase in trade openness lifts GDP per capita by 4 percent and this is important to underline. It must be a doctrine that is widely adopted for global growth and economic welfare.New Zealand knows this lesson well. Trade is driving our economy. It is no coincidence that New Zealand has the fourth-strongest economic growth in the OECD. For these reasons New Zealand has been at the forefront of trade liberalisation and successive New Zealand Governments have pursued free-trade agreements (FTAs) where they can. As I travel the world people continue to remind me that New Zealand's first FTA our groundbreaking Closer Economic Relations with Australia to establish the single economic market remains an aspiration to many.New Zealand was China's first FTA with a developed country. This new opportunity for our businesses and innovators has been phenomenal lifting sectors in regions across the country. Before the New Zealand - China free-trade agreement New Zealand exports to China were estimated to grow to reach NZ$5.6 billion by 2015. New Zealand exports to China were $3 billion larger than estimated—$8.6 billion. We now trade with China in 5 hours what we did in 1 year in 1972. This is a result of a high-quality free-trade agreement—no other reason.There is our bilateral FTA with Singapore which expanded into the P4 agreement the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement to include Chile and Brunei and formed the basis for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. We have a number of FTAs with ASEAN members that sit alongside our FTA with ASEAN as a whole. In turn this is being developed into the ASEAN Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which would include over half the world's population. This job is not complete. New Zealand's active FTA agenda continues to lock in opportunities for our exporters wherever they may find them.We have also seen a deepening of issues that we need to address to ensure that our exporters get decent treatment in markets. As tariffs come down non-tariff barriers (NTBs) often emerge as presenting unfair obstacles to New Zealand exporters competing on a level playing field. The Government tackles these NTBs in a number of areas through FTAs in the World Trade Organization and on a case by case basis. The passage of this bill today will be a signal of the continued commitment that New Zealand has to the continued liberalisation of international trade. At times when there is uncertainty in the rest of the world New Zealand's consistent and trusted voice of negotiating trade outcomes that are good for our economy and good for the world's economy needs to be heard. Our role is as a champion of trade liberalisation.In this role today this Parliament must too show leadership. Our vision for a mechanism to enhance trade between four countries grew into the largest trade agreement to date which places us in the middle of a region encompassing nearly 40 percent of the global GDP. We can be proud of that. We must continue to push for new trading opportunities and to continue to push for trade liberalisation wherever we can. Other countries want to trade with us. They regard New Zealand internationally as easy to deal with. We are upfront with our objectives we produce high-quality products and services and we are governed by our rule of law and respect of our obligations. In turn New Zealand companies are respected by their customers. But that reputation means little when we are trying to access markets where we are not permitted to sell our goods and services. It is only through continued improved market access and boldly confronting barriers to trade that our exporters can continue to thrive. We must continue to be outward-looking and to show leadership.I want to touch briefly on global events overnight. I want to congratulate President-Elect Trump. It is important that we give the new President a chance to put his team in place and consider his trade agenda. I think this will obviously take some time. But we will be able to work with America on trade. The passage of this bill will put New Zealand as a TPP depository and the first to have passed implementing legislation in a stronger position. Now more than ever we need to be championing the cause of openness and inclusiveness. This remains the only way to secure prosperity for our economy and for generations to come.