31 May 2017

Full text of Pacific's PACER Plus deal made public

1:22 pm on 31 May 2017

The full text of the PACER Plus trade deal has now been released and the New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay says it will help show how it will benefit New Zealand and the Pacific.

The Pacific trade exhibition in Auckland, New Zealand.

The Pacific trade exhibition in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo: RNZI / Indira Stewart

The agreement is to be signed next month in Tonga but civil society organisations across the region remain highly critical of it.

Mr McClay said the text shows a carefully crafted trade and development agreement that raises standards of living, creates employment opportunities and increases export capacity in Pacific Island countries.

Todd McClay

Trade Minister Todd McClay Photo: NZ Parliament

He said it also shows how New Zealand will face lower tariffs on the vast majority of its traditional exports, saving exporters millions of dollars a year.

Earlier this week 60 Pacific NGOs and 233 individuals said the deal is likely to fail without proper assessments being done of the impacts it will have on health, natural resources and the environment.

The full text of PACER Plus can be found at: https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/free-trade-agreements/agreements-under-negotiation/pacer/pacer-plus-full-text/

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