Locke Keith: Tariff (New Zealand - Thailand Closer Economic Partnership) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
Locke Keith: Tariff (New Zealand - Thailand Closer Economic Partnership) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21412] 
KEITH LOCKE (Green) 
: 
 It is a little step forward that the Tariff (New Zealand - Thailand Closer Economic Partnership) Bill includes the transitional safeguard measures. Although as the Minister for Trade Negotiations has just said it was not the initiative of the New Zealand Government to put those in; it was the initiative of the Thai Government. Perhaps the New Zealand Government even beat them back a bit if as the Minister says the Thai farmers are worried about a flood of dairy products. As I pointed out earlier Oxfam New Zealand in its submission on the treaty to the select committee talked about the problems of Thai dairy farmers and also quoted from a document of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that made a similar point. But surely whether it is protecting Thai farmers against New Zealand products or protecting New Zealand manufacturers and workers against Thai products this is a very limited arrangement on two levels. 
The Minister has said that the measure has to meet a very high test of serious injury to an industry. There is some good phraseology used elsewhere. A detrimental impact in relation to increased importation of goods is an “actual decline in output sales market share profits productivity employment and utilisation of production capacity;” or some threat to cause “serious injury to an industry producing a like or directly competitive good.” It is good that the provision is there but when one reads the fine print elsewhere one finds that that provision lasts for only a maximum of 2 years following the elimination of the tariff on the product concerned. So it might help New Zealand workers or Thai farmers for that little period of 2 years but beyond that we could be in serious difficulty. 
The Green Party has three amendments to clause 7. They are of the same theme as my amendments to Part 1 which was to insert into the clauses a little bit extra on labour standards and the environment. Under clause 7 if my amendment is passed there would be a paragraph (1)(c) in new section 15B that would include in the transitional measures products that “are being produced without acceptable labour standards or in ways which detrimentally affect communities or the environment.” Also my amendment would insert subparagraphs (i) to (iii) into new section 15D(d) to bring into account “(i) the extent to which the imports have been made by forced labour child labour or women who are paid less than men for the same work; or (ii) the extent to which the imports have been made in unsafe and sub-standard working conditions; or (iii) the extent to which the imports have been made without reasonable environmental standards”. My amendment to insert paragraph (1)(c) into new section 15F would take into account exclusions on items that “are causing or threatening to cause harm to Thailand because they are being produced without acceptable labor standards or in ways which detrimentally affect communities or the environment.” 
Those amendments would provide a lot of protection for the rights of people in Thailand particularly working people in terms of labour standards and in the broader community in terms of environmental effects and effects on communities. I think there is good reason to be concerned there. If members follow events in Thailand they will see that the Government does not protect the environment very well in terms of the expansion of industry. At least those amendments would allow New Zealand if there is a big outcry from the Thai community and non-governmental organisations that they are not being properly protected under this agreement to exclude the products that are producing that damaging effect on the Thai people. 
So I hope members will support those amendments. They do strengthen the clause. As I said it is good that the transitional safeguards are there but they are very wishy-washy and weak.