Craig Foss and Alastair Scott: TPP biggest agreement

Craig Foss

THE Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), New Zealand's biggest free trade agreement, has reached a positive conclusion.

The TPP includes 11 other countries; Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam. Collectively, these countries contribute to about 40 per cent of the global economy with an annual GDP of about $27 trillion.

The estimated total benefit of this to New Zealand's GDP is $2.7 billion a year, as well as saving an estimated $259 million in tariffs each year, once the agreement is fully implemented.

So, what does this mean for the people of Hawkes's Bay? We are well renowned for our high-quality exports, and this agreement provides exporters with 800 million more potential customers. Our exporters are among the world's best producers of quality value-added products and services, and the TPP gives more people around the world access to these products.

Be assured, this agreement is incredibly significant for the Bay - our jobs, families and exports will benefit and our confidence will grow.

Our apple, beef and wine sectors have huge new opportunities. Tourism operators will see renewed awareness of our region from new markets. With more jobs, we will see higher incomes and a higher standard of living for our families. It's that simple.

For instance, our kiwifruit industry is set to get a large boost, with $15.3 million of annual kiwifruit tariffs eliminated - that's an average of $6000 per grower a year, once the agreement is fully rolled out.

Our meat industry is also set to improve, with tariffs lifted on all meat except in Japan, where they are significantly lowered to only 9 per cent. This will result in $72 million saved on annual meat tariffs once the TPP is fully implemented, including $59.8 million on beef and $4.7 million on offal.

Although we fought hard and would have liked to have got a better deal for dairy, once the TPP is fully implemented, we will still see $102 million saved on annual dairy tariffs, including $53.4 million on cheese and $8.2 million on protein products.

These sorts of agreements benefit our communities in a very real way.

Almost 40 per cent of jobs in Hawke's Bay are in the export sector. So deals like the TPP and the Taiwan and Korea free trade agreements - all completed under this National Government - are vital to the region's economic growth. We want to create more jobs in the region and raise wages, and the best way to do that is make sure our businesses have every opportunity to grow and be successful.

Craig Foss is the MP for Tukituki and Alastair Scott is the MP for Wairarapa.