Protect Pharmac from US FTA - Greens
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Protect Pharmac from US FTA - Greens
By Danya Levy
24 May 2011
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take Pharmac off the table in Trans Tasman Partnership (TTP) negotiations.
The party has raised concerns for some months that the national drug-buying agency could be weaken by a successful free trade deal with involving the United States.
Prime Minister John Key yesterday refused to rule out changes to Pharmac, but insisted the agency had been "hugely successful".
"We think ... it is the most cost efficient way of purchasing pharmaceuticals for New Zealanders and we would take a fair bit of convincing that it was not the right model."
Key said he would not set bottom lines for the agreement or negotiate through the media.
"All I can say is we are not going to do something that is not in New Zealand’s best interest.
"We are talking about access, through a free trade agreement to arguably the biggest economy in the world. That’s the prize if you you can complete an FTA, which is what the TPP is."
Greens MP Kennedy Graham says the prime minister should rule out changes to Pharmac.
TPP negotiations did not have to be so secret, he said. The Government was not expected to negotiate through the media but it could report periodically back to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee so MPs could have input into the process.
Graham said the Greens rejected the assertion a free trade deal was a massive prize for New Zealand, saying the massive prize would be the predation of New Zealand’s iconic agencies by American corporations.
If the US walked away from the negotiations because Pharmac was taken off the table "so be it", he said.
"We did it with ANZUS over our nuclear free zone so why would we not stand firm on other things which are equally as important to our national interest."
New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Peru, United States, Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia are negotiating the TPP.
The next round of talks will be held in Vietnam next month.
