Lee MelissaMELISSA LEE (National): Thank you for the opportunity to take a short call on this important bill introduced by the commerce and consumer affairs Minister the Hon Paul Goldsmith. Before I get on I would like to make the comment that the Hon Mr Goldsmith actually works incredibly hard supporting the commerce and consumer needs of New Zealand and I would like to take a moment to say thank you to him—he is sitting right next to me so some people might actually make the mistake of thinking that I have to say that because he is sitting next to me.I would like to commend the speaker who just took his seat the Hon Clayton Cosgrove. I would like to thank him for his compliments on my chairmanship of the Commerce Committee. I have to say that I have also enjoyed his attendance at the Commerce Committee from time to time on bills that he has specific interest in.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: How much?MELISSA LEE: Very much—very much sir. I look forward to your attendance tomorrow Mr Cosgrove.The Trade (Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties) Amendment Bill seeks to introduce public interest as the Minister has attested into the current anti-dumping and countervailing duties regime which the Minister and the Hon Mr Cosgrove have also just spoken about. Here in New Zealand goods are considered to have been dumped if the export price into our country is in fact less than the price that the goods are sold for in the domestic market of the exporting country. For example I mean New Zealanders love whiteware that has been imported because we can get some brands at a much cheaper price. I might actually quote that sometimes Korean-manufactured products like Samsung fridges and whiteware could potentially come in cheaper. If in fact the Korean Government was for example providing Samsung—I am not saying that it is—with a subsidy to export to New Zealand at a much much lower rate then the manufacturers in New Zealand should be worried that we have a situation where we cannot compete with those products that are actually being dumped or are getting subsidies from those countries. So we want a marketplace that is actually fair where our manufacturers exporters and producers can in fact compete with those overseas manufacturers and exporters.I think this bill is actually very important. The Government of course has been making excellent inroads into the growth of better business and trade supporting more New Zealand companies to be able to engage in international businesses to buy more goods cheaper goods and better-quality goods from different parts of the globe at competitive prices. All of the free-trade agreement negotiations and the agreements that we have signed actually go towards promoting that. We also have the obligations and responsibilities to the World Trade Organisation where it is reflected that these law changes that we are making are important due to our standing as a good-faith trading partner to so many other countries around the world.New Zealand of course was one of the founding members of the World Trade Organization and former Prime Minister and ambassador the Rt Hon Mike Moore served as its director-general from 1999 to 2002. Such links are important to New Zealand trade and to New Zealand consumers who want assurances that we are giving them the best-possible deal in regulation and also in consumer awareness and I guess consumer prices—we want cheaper prices but we want to make sure that whatever is actually coming into the country is not putting our own producers at risk either. But if in fact those products that we may import are in the best interests of the consumers—this bill might actually consider best public interest issues and I think it will actually deal with those worries.It is a customers first" Government as my colleague Brett Hudson says. National's plan is to help businesses thrive while protecting consumers an admirable plan we took into the 2014 election which we have consistently delivered on—and will continue to deliver on—going into the 2017 year. Small businesses are in fact the backbone of our economy and make up about 97 percent of businesses in New Zealand and they too are consumers. In this public interest test that we will be implementing they too are in fact the public interest that we should actually consider as well.I think this is a great bill and I look forward to the submissions in the Commerce Committee and having serious discussions with my Opposition members as well as the Government members. I commend this bill to the House."