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New Zealand government leaders hailed the agreement of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership ( TPP) deal on Tuesday, while opponents demanded to know what the country had traded away in the secretive five-year negotiations.
Prime Minister John Key said the TPP welcomed "New Zealand's biggest free trade agreement (FTA)," claiming it would boost the New Zealand economy by least 2.7 billion NZ dollars (1.75 billion U.S. dollars) a year by 2030.
"This agreement will give our exporters much better access to a market of more than 800 million customers in 11 countries across Asia and the Pacific, and help Kiwi firms do business overseas," Key said in a statement.
"In particular, TPP represents New Zealand's first FTA relationship with the largest and third-largest economies in the world the United States and Japan. Successive New Zealand governments have been working to achieve this for 25 years," he said.
Exporters of dairy products New Zealand's biggest single export commodity would have access to these markets through newly created quotas, in addition to tariff elimination on a number of products.
"We're disappointed there wasn't agreement to eliminate all dairy tariffs but overall it's a very good deal for New Zealand," Key said.
"We've seen with China how a free trade agreement can boost exports of goods and services and deepen trade and investment links."
Many concerns raised previously about TPP were not reflected in the final agreement, such as claims the deal would increase consumer charges on New Zealand's subsidized medicines.
Trade Minister Tim Groser, who led New Zealand negotiations in the final round in the U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia, said not being part of the TPP "would put New Zealand at a competitive disadvantage compared to other countries."
Tariffs would be eliminated on 93 percent of New Zealand's trade with its new FTA partners -- United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and Peru.
This would ultimately represent 259 million NZ dollars (168.53 million U.S. dollars) of tariff savings a year around twice the savings initially forecast for the China FTA.
Groser said in a statement from his office that the most significant change to New Zealand law would be an extension of New Zealand's copyright period from 50 years to 70 years.
"Other potentially far-reaching or costly proposals raised earlier in the negotiations were not included in the final agreement," Groser said.
Investor-state dispute settlement provisions had been included in TPP, but the tobacco industry had been excluded from taking action against tobacco control measures.
"TPP, like any free trade agreement, will go through New Zealand's Parliamentary processes. We expect it to come into force within two years," said Groser.
The main opposition Labor Party said the government had failed to deliver, with no meaningful gains for dairy and new costs for the government's pharmaceutical-buying agency.
"The deal falls well below expectations with only disappointing crumbs for our dairy industry and extended patents on new drugs which will cost the taxpayer millions and leave New Zealanders without life-saving drugs," acting Labor leader Annette King said.
"The government must come clean now on what 'ugly compromises' they have made behind closed doors," said King in a statement.
"New Zealanders must be told whether the government has traded away our right to further restrict foreign ownership of housing or farm land and what agreements have been made to allow foreign corporations to sue New Zealand for regulating in the public interest."
