TPP platform for environment cooperation: New Zealand government

The New Zealand government on Wednesday defended the controversial 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal as beneficial to the environment.

The environment chapter of the TPP offered real benefits for both New Zealand's environment and trade, Environment Minister Nick Smith and Trade Minister Todd McClay said in a joint statement.

"It goes much further than any other New Zealand trade agreement on issues like protecting endangered species and preventing pollution, and also provides a valuable avenue for New Zealand to advance its environmental and conservation interests by working with, and pooling resources with other TPP countries," Smith said.

The pact had specific undertakings or obligations around reducing carbon emissions, the conservation and sustainability of marine fisheries, and combating the illegal trade in wild flora and fauna, said McClay.

"The protection of threatened fish stocks is a priority for New Zealand and the chapter includes requirements in relation to fish subsidies, which contribute to over-fishing and over-capacity, as well as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing," said McClay.

For the first time in a free trade agreement, there was a platform for environmental cooperation with some of the world's most advanced economies alongside developing countries.

"It is a huge step forward to have environmental issues better recognised in trade agreements," said Smith.

The TPP, signed in Auckland in February, has been widely criticized for its investor-state dispute elements, which, critics say, would enable corporations to sue governments for regulations that might hit profits such as industrial, environmental and health and safety rules. Endit