Parker DavidTARIFF (PACER PLUS) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Trade and Export Growth): I move That the Tariff (PACER Plus) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.Madam Assistant Speaker thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of this motion. Passage of this amendment to the tariff is one of the last steps New Zealand needs to take to be in a position to ratify PACER-Plus. [Interruption] ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! I apologise to the Minister. Could I ask members of the gallery please when they're leaving—could you leave quietly please? We're continuing with the business of the House. Thank you. Thank you for your indulgence.Hon DAVID PARKER: I understand the emotions running high and the celebrations after the long journey that has led to this point so I'm not at all perturbed by that.Passage of this amendment to the tariff is one of the last steps that New Zealand needs to take to be in a position to ratify PACER-Plus. It makes the minor amendments needed to enable ratification. Most of the obligations in PACER-Plus can already be met—or are already met—by New Zealand's existing domestic legal and policy regime and there are only a small number of legislative and regulatory amendments required to the Tariff Act to align New Zealand's domestic legal regime with the rights and obligations created under PACER-Plus.In the very week and on the very day that New Zealand and other Pacific countries conclude the annual Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Nauru it's heartening that the majority of this House has shown its support for PACER-Plus and through that it's support for regional economic integration in our neighbourhood the Pacific because as we have all heard before—and there is no doubt that we see it in our own communities and constituencies—New Zealand is intrinsically part of the Pacific through the fact of geography and through our shared DNA.The passage of this bill and the consequential early ratification by New Zealand of the agreement reflect the importance that we in New Zealand place on this agreement and the positive impact our development assistance is having and will have on our Pacific neighbours. New Zealand together with Australia is providing significant development assistance to Pacific signatories of PACER-Plus to support their efforts also to be able to ratify PACER-Plus in the coming months.Pacific Island countries who attended the first meeting of PACER-Plus signatories recently in Apia Samoa reaffirmed their commitment to agreement and to ratification. Like New Zealand and Australia other Pacific signatories are keen to see PACER-Plus enter into force. This reflects their national interest in being part of PACER-Plus. It reflects the benefits countries have already received and will continue to receive as part of the implementation phase after entry into force. It also illustrates that Pacific signatories are sovereign countries and they have made their own considered decision to join PACER-Plus.Eight signatories need to ratify the agreement before it enters into force some 60 days after that milestone. As part of the preparations for entry into force work is already under way to establish a PACER-Plus implementation unit which is expected to be hosted by a Pacific country not New Zealand. So the sooner PACER-Plus enters into force the sooner PACER-Plus can be implemented in a way that realises its potential as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth in the Pacific. There remain 11 signatories at this point. Discussions are continuing with three compact States—the Federated States of Micronesia Palau and Republic of Marshall Islands—on when they intend to sign in order to have the interests of our northern Pacific neighbours reflected in the implementation phase.Dialogue is also continuing with the larger economies of Fiji and Papua New Guinea as they are with new forum members New Caledonia and French Polynesia. New Zealand would like to see all Pacific Islands Forum members join PACER-Plus but again acknowledge that is a decision for each country to make. In New Zealand we celebrate that the majority of the forum membership has already decided that PACER-Plus is in their national interests and will build the economic resilience and self-reliance that they seek. The Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting is providing further opportunities to discuss PACER-Plus at the higher levels.PACER-Plus is part of New Zealand's wider interest to ensure settled security arrangements in the Pacific. We know that a stable and prosperous Pacific is a secure Pacific. With the global trading environment becoming ever more challenging for small countries like ours and ever more challenging for even smaller economies in the Pacific we believe that PACER-Plus is a welcome addition to the region's tool box to bolster all of our collective interests.Through the vehicle of PACER-Plus New Zealand is already having conversations with the Pacific about what can be done to boost Pacific exports to New Zealand. This is of key importance to the signatories who are keen to utilise the opportunities provided by PACER-Plus to go beyond simply exporting more of the limited range of commodities currently exported. This is an opportunity to create higher value - added products that are cheaper to transport and less likely to need the biosecurity screening that is sometimes an impediment.Concluding PACER-Plus last year was a long time in the making. Can I acknowledge the last two Ministers of Trade at least who put so much work into that. The Hon Todd McClay and his predecessor did more to bring this to fruition than I or my Government have and I acknowledge that. Support for this bill today means that New Zealand and the Pacific are one important step further on the road to the entry into force of this milestone trade and development agreement.Finally I note once again that there are provisions in this agreement that New Zealand does not normally agree to in respect of our free-trade agreements which have a development focus recognise the special status of the small developing economies especially in the Pacific region and enable them to have protection and industry development initiatives that we would normally see as anti-competitive in an international trade context. But we agree because in the case of these economies we want to help them develop so as to maximise their potential the prosperity of the Pacific and through that the security and peace of our region.