KEY POINTS:
New Zealand is close to a free-trade agreement with China and Trade Minister Phil Goff is confident a deal will be signed in April after final details are worked through.
A 15th round of formal talks were held in Beijing in December and Goff said yesterday that it
was unlikely a 16th round would be needed.
While there was still a lot of work to be done, he said, the main issues had been dealt with and he did not expect serious obstacles to signing the deal by the April deadline that had been talked about.
"I can't totally rule it out, but it's unlikely there will be another major round," Goff said from Morocco.
"The point I'm confident about is that we will conclude by the deadline that we set ourselves."
New Zealand is in line to become the first Western developed nation to sign a free-trade deal with China - a prospect that is welcomed by some local businesses but which makes others nervous.
Details of what has been agreed so far remain scarce and Goff was unwilling to talk about how long it could take China to phase out tariffs on New Zealand's agricultural goods.
He said details could not be announced until it was clear that both sides agreed on every issue and "we haven't quite got to that point yet".
"We wanted to phase out entirely tariffs on goods, we believe we are on track to achieving that," he said.
"But phased out over a period of time."
Officials have estimated that a good quality free-trade agreement with China could boost the economy by close to $400 million through greater market access and tariff reductions.
There is enough local political support for a deal to mean one is likely to be passed by Parliament, even though the Greens have been opposed to a deal.
The Greens have cited China's human rights record, its labour standards and environmental factors as issues that should be included in any deal signed with the fast-growing Asian superpower.
The political party has also expressed concern about New Zealand manufacturing jobs being lost as tariffs go.
Goff said the devil was in the details when it came to finalising such agreements, and he would not comment on how the deal might cover Chinese workers coming into New Zealand.
"I can't go into the details on that, other than to say that I think we're on track to achieving something that is acceptable to both sides," the minister said.
The trade deal will go to the Cabinet for approval after all legal requirements are met.
Goff said both countries would have to ensure that legal versions were properly drafted and translated, and that what one side was saying in its language was understood to mean the same thing by the other side.
Negotiators would try to ensure there was agreement on specific details, which Goff said could be "quite a complicated task".
"Until you've got through that, you cannot be absolutely sure that there are not still outstanding issues to be resolved," he said.
The deal will be examined through a select committee process, and there will be a national interest analysis of any agreement.
AT STAKE
* NZ in line to become the first Western developed nation to sign free-trade deal with China.
* A deal could mean a $400 million boost to NZ economy.
