New Zealand leaves questions hanging over "inadequate" TPP deal

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser indicated Friday that he might not attend last ditch talks to secure the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal in the United States.

New Zealand negotiators would participate in a meeting starting on Sept. 26 in Atlanta.

However, Groser said in a statement that he would be attending climate change talks in New York and he would travel to Atlanta " should negotiators make sufficient progress resolving outstanding issues, including dairy market access, to warrant ministerial engagement."

A spokesperson for Groser told Radio New Zealand Friday that he was waiting to see if there was any point in going.

The United States had reportedly called for ministers to meet after reports that it, Canada, Japan and Mexico had made progress on a disagreement about local content in the auto trade.

However, Groser said Thursday that the current offer on access for dairy -- New Zealand's largest single export commodity -- was "completely inadequate."

He still wanted to see whether officials could make enough progress on that and other issues to make it worth going to the ministerial talks set for Sept. 30, Radio New Zealand reported.

Opponents of the controversial TPP on Friday renewed calls for New Zealand to walk away from the talks as the country faced surrendering too much in return for too little.

The opposition Green Party said statements from Groser suggested he had given up on securing a good deal for New Zealand dairy exports, but might still sign anyway.

"It looks like Tim Groser has given up on securing a good deal for dairy, so why would he sign it given all the downsides?" Green Party trade spokesperson Russel Norman said in a statement.

"It looks like the truth is coming out that for all the huge concessions New Zealand has made, the payoff for dairy exports won 't be worth it," he said.

"The (TPP) is a bad deal for New Zealand because it restricts the right of democratically elected governments to regulate to protect the environment and human health," he added.

Talks in Hawaii at the beginning of August collapsed amid a raft of unresolved issues, including access for dairy, which New Zealand insisted was essential for any deal.

With Canada looking at a general election in October and the U. S. presidential election cycle getting underway, the latest talks are seen as the last chance to secure a deal in the foreseeable future. Endi