Auchinvole Chris: New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement Bill — In Committee 
Auchinvole Chris: New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:648;Page:17357] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 The legislation that kicks open the door to the future does not in itself furnish the room beyond. When I looked at Part 2 I thought that this is a very good safeguard measure that has been introduced. Certificates of origin perhaps seen just as a bureaucratic part of an export job are far more than that. 
I remember having a discussion on certificates of origin and the need for them particularly on generic products like consumable butter and that sort of thing. We were designing a new wrap for New Zealand butter and it had to comply with certificates of origin; the French customer in this particular case required the word “beurre” on it. The question from the product division was why butter is butter and we responded: “When did you last buy a wrapped product without English on it?”. We like to see we like to know what we are purchasing and increasingly we like to know where it is from. That is very very important from a consumer’s point of view. 
Keith Locke 
: That’s right. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: I know that parliamentary colleagues in the Green Party are making a particular thing of this. 
My colleague Wayne Mapp mentioned stickers. Well there are stickers on apples. I do not know how one shows a certificate of origin on an egg although I have seen stamps on eggs; it can be done. But a certificate of origin is far more than just a stamp of origin. It carries the essence of the country of production with it. In the case of New Zealand it is a brand in itself if one has a certificate of origin. It is a protection for the producer it is a protection for the consumer of the goods and it is a protection for the carriers who transact the export of those goods. 
In reading Part 2 which amends the Customs and Excise Act 1996 and having been involved in export for a while I wondered why we had to have a particular certificate of origin. The answer I guess is in new section 64A(3) to be inserted by clause 14. It specifies: “Goods originate in New Zealand if for the purposes of the China FTA the goods satisfy the requirements of the rules of origin prescribed for the China FTA.” If I have it wrong I would be grateful if the Minister would take a call and explain. I gather there are particular requirements that the certificate of origin meets. 
My colleague Tim Groser who has phenomenal experience of this issue talked about anti-dumping protection. I would agree with him that rather than go into the swampland of discussing that in detail I think there is a case for accepting that there is a measure of protection through the certificate of origin purpose. I think what we are seeing here is a further example of free trade being free but also being protected in the best sense because exporting and importing is not just a matter of transacting. 
I used to explain to the troops as we called them as we went about our work that what the customer wants is not really lots of advertising and negotiation on price. What the customer—the end distributor—wants is the goods he ordered on the vessel he nominated at the agreed price but overall more than anything else he wants the correct certification because it is in fact the documents that are being exchanged. The goods follow along in good faith as does the money but the documents form the crucial part of any transaction of an export nature. We are blessed in this country with a Customs Service that has obligations to the country and to the international linkage with other customs services—which of course sometimes comes as a surprise to exporters.