Power Simon: Trade (Safeguard Measures) Bill — First Reading 
Power Simon: Trade (Safeguard Measures) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1867] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Commerce) 
: 
 I move  
That the Trade (Safeguard Measures) Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Trade (Safeguard Measures) Bill be referred to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee for consideration. 
This bill significantly overhauls New Zealand’s regime for the imposition of safeguard measures on imported goods. Safeguards are emergency measures—with emphasis on the word “emergency”—applied at the border usually in the form of a duty that may be taken to provide temporary protection to a domestic industry from injury caused by a surge in imported goods. 
This bill is designed to ensure that New Zealand’s safeguard regime is consistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules—again that is an important point to make—and to promote efficient transparent and objective investigative and decision-making processes. It is worth noting the contribution of the previous Government in the bringing of this bill to the Parliament and I am happy to progress it in a timely manner—something that was previously not the case. 
The current regime is subject to the Temporary Safeguard Authorities Act 1987 which has not been subject to a comprehensive review since its inception. As a consequence— 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: It’s now outdated. 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: —the Act is now outdated—that is quite right I say to Ms Dalziel—and does not provide an adequate means for New Zealand to comply with its WTO obligations should it be necessary to take safeguard action. 
Despite the small number of safeguard investigations that have been undertaken manufacturers must retain access to an effective safeguard mechanism at a time when industry is exposed to increasing import competition through unilateral tariff reductions which are scheduled to continue until July 2009 and a continued growth in free-trade agreements. Further competition from imports may also occur if the WTO Doha round of negotiations is successfully completed and results in a multilateral liberalisation of trade. 
This bill repeals the Temporary Safeguard Authorities Act 1987 and replaces it with a modern regime that takes these developments into account in order to avoid harm being caused to New Zealand industries from rapid increases in imports. Where a safeguard measure is warranted the bill provides for the Minister of Commerce to impose a final and provisional safeguard duty or to recommend that other measures be taken. The ability to impose a separate provisional and final safeguard duty will allow a quick and efficient means for taking safeguard action. To comply with WTO rules—and that compliance is a significant factor—the bill also provides for the extension liberalisation and termination of a safeguard duty. 
Under the present regime the imposition of a safeguard measure through an increase in the normal customs duty or by a quantitative restriction on import volumes is only possible if it is in the public interest to do so. The current legislation does not however contain any guidance on what constitutes the public interest and the new provisions in this bill are designed to increase the certainty and transparency in the process of considering public interest issues. 
The key components of investigations remain essentially unchanged so no significant increase in the cost to participate is expected. The bill also shifts responsibility for undertaking safeguard investigations from temporary safeguard authorities to the Ministry of Economic Development. The ministry already undertakes other trade remedy investigations into the impact of dumped and subsidised imports on New Zealand industries which means there is a substantial overlap with a safeguard investigation. This change will therefore allow the expertise of the ministry to be fully utilised and avoid any potential problems with recruiting authority members as a result of the extension of the time frame for completing an investigation. In other words the bill therefore creates a single Government point of contact for all trade remedy inquiries and that is a plus for businesses. 
The bill provides for the extension of the time frame for the completion of a safeguard investigation from the current 30 working days to 75 working days or to 85 working days if provisional measures are requested. Decisions by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body have helped to clarify obligations that must be met before a safeguard measure can be imposed which would be very difficult to meet within current time frames. The extension of the time frame will allow sufficient time to undertake a high-quality investigation and reduce the risk of any safeguard measure taken by New Zealand being overturned through the WTO dispute settlement process. At the same time the ability of the Minister of Commerce to impose a provisional measure will ensure that New Zealand industry is not disadvantaged by the additional time taken to complete an investigation. 
Finally the bill also includes a number of other technical matters aimed at improving the efficiency of application and investigation processes and at ensuring conformity with WTO rules. The changes I have outlined will strengthen the safeguards regime as well as strengthening access to that regime by domestic industry. Globalisation and increasing competition from imported products at a time when domestic spending is constrained make it even more important that New Zealand - based industries have the mechanism within the frameworks to adjust to these pressures. I commend this bill to the House.