Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Question No. 6 to Minister 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Question No. 6 to Minister 
[Volume:628;Page:522] 
1. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister for Trade Negotiations 
: Has he told China Korea and Argentina that New Zealand rejects their claim that energy-efficiency standards and labels should be treated as non-tariff trade barriers; if not why not? 
Hon JIM SUTTON (Minister for Trade Negotiations) 
: 
 Not yet. The World Trade Organization negotiations are still at the point of winnowing out and identifying non-tariff barriers for further action. At this stage it would be premature for New Zealand to initiate bilateral exchanges with individual members on single items identified through the initial phase. If I were to engage with China Korea and Argentina on whether energy-efficiency standards should be treated as non-tariff barriers our starting point would be that energy-efficiency standards can be an effective instrument to achieve energy-efficiency savings. World Trade Organization (WTO) rules allow members to set standards that contribute to a healthy environment as long as the standards are necessary transparent and applied in a non-discriminatory way. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Given that notification of those attempts has been around on the website for over a year now would it not be a good idea to try to influence the final form in which those proposals are put; and will the Minister make the strongest possible statement at the Hong Kong ministerial meeting next week against these measures—which would weaken every country’s efforts to limit climate change—and not trade away our energy-efficiency standards and labels in return for increased market access for agricultural products? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: I think it unlikely that this matter will require debate at the Hong Kong ministerial meeting. However I do welcome the honourable member’s support as recently as yesterday for removing unnecessarily complex regulations on some products. New Zealand has been actively involved in work to address non-tariff barriers that affect the use of timber in building construction. 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Given the Minister’s response that the issue is unlikely to be raised will the Government therefore speak out strongly against that? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: The Government takes the need for environmental standards very seriously and those measures are developed in a rigorous way to ensure compliance with WTO agreements. WTO rules—including the agreement on technical barriers to trade which covers standards and technical regulations—allow members to pursue environmental objectives as long as I said as the standards are necessary and non-discriminatory.  
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the Minister aware that the United States wants the WTO to outlaw tax concessions for the purchase of small-engined cars on the grounds that it discriminates against large-engined cars; and will the Government make it clear that it has no truck with such proposals given the effect they would have on the efficiency of the New Zealand vehicle fleet and the cost of our oil imports? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: My great sympathy for the member’s position on this is curtailed by the realisation that the WTO will have its work cut out to liberalise trade without taking on the burden of the Kyoto Protocol as well.  
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Do I take it from the Minister’s answer that he believes that the WTO should proceed to make its decisions about non-tariff trade barriers without any consideration of the effects they might have on other international treaties such as Kyoto? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: Absolutely not. It is the long-established policy of this Government that progress in trade should not be purchased at the expense of going backwards on either environmental or labour issues.  
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the Minister aware that a flood of cheap inefficient Chinese air conditioners could cause a power blackout in Auckland as it nearly did a few years ago in Brisbane; and why will he not now make a clear statement at the WTO that energy efficiency standards are non-negotiable? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: Because I am not the Minister with responsibility for energy efficiency.