Goff moots idea of regional free trade deal
Dominion Post, Wellington
Goff moots idea of regional free trade deal
11 July 2007
Trade minister Phil Goff has floated the prospect of a regional free trade deal comprising the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Brunei and South Korea.
He suggested the idea as a plan B if the current stalled Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks could not be revived and if an APEC-wide free trade agreement proved too difficult.
"(An) option is to look inside or outside of APEC for a coalition of countries with greater ambition to achieve a regional free trade agreement by moving ahead of, rather than waiting for, consensus within larger organisations."
The P4 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership of Chile, New Zealand, Brunei and Singapore provided a model for such a regional agreement, he said.
"A grouping of progressive economies including perhaps the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, the P4 countries, Korea, and others could reach a high-quality FTA, which would allow others prepared to meet this threshold to dock into it.
"This option has not yet been tested but could be explored if avenues such as the Doha round do not come to fruition."
Bilateral deals were the other option for New Zealand, Mr Goff said. He hoped New Zealand would conclude a free trade agreement with China in less than a year.
New Zealand was also looking at ways it could advance economic relations with Japan and South Korea, Mr Goff said.
"In both countries, agricultural protectionism has traditionally stood in the way of negotiating an economic partnership agreement," he said.
"But in each country, with an aging farmer demographic and growing need for agricultural reform, New Zealand has the potential through an EPA, to assist in the process of reform - and sufficiently differentiated products not to present the competitive threat sometimes feared.
"My sense is that we will move forward first with Korea in respect to an EPA after its agreement with the US, but in each case there will be challenges to overcome."
