The open letter, organised by BusinessNZ, was signed by 28 exporters and industry associations, such as Federated Farmers, Zespri, Seafood New Zealand and Beef + Lamb New Zealand.<\/p>\n
The letter said trade was critical to New Zealand\u2019s prosperity and the FTA was the next significant step forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an increasingly uncertain global environment marked by rising protectionism, geopolitical tension and supply chain disruption, New Zealand cannot afford to stand still,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecuring better access to India will help build resilience, spread risk and strengthen our economic position. <\/p>\n
\u201cAn FTA with India is not a luxury; it is a strategic necessity for our economic security.\u201d<\/p>\n
BusinessNZ chief executive Katherine Rich said bipartisan support underpinned the strength of New Zealand\u2019s trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealand relies on global markets to drive growth, support jobs and lift incomes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat only works when there is consistency and confidence in our trade settings. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re making this call to all political parties today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The open letter refers to the benefits of the FTA to a number of sectors, including horticulture, sheep meat, seafood, wine, honey, wood products, seeds and natural fibres, machinery, digital technology and services.<\/p>\n
ExportNZ, which sits within the BusinessNZ network, said the deal would be a \u201cmajor win\u201d for exporters and the wider economy.<\/p>\n
Its executive director, Joshua Tan, told RNZ\u2019s Midday Report the letter was aimed at all political parties, not just Labour or New Zealand First.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to have trade seen as a bipartisan, non-political issue here,\u201d Tan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that all political parties need to sign this deal and agree to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia is on track to become the world\u2019s third-largest economy by 2030. <\/p>\n
\u201cSecuring fair access to a market the size of India\u2019s backs our farmers, growers, manufacturers, innovators and service providers, as well as the communities that depend on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tan said the sooner the deal was in place, the better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are too slow, sectors can be left at a disadvantage to other deals that India … is completing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNamely, the EU [European Union] deal, which offers better access to the wine exporters, for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if we do get this deal in force before that, then we also stand to benefit from the access that the EU has negotiated. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why speed is the key here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Meat Industry Association was one of the signatories.<\/p>\n
Its chair, Nathan Guy, told RNZ that political parties had a long history of supporting free trade agreements together.<\/p>\n
Guy said the deal would remove a 30% tariff for the sheep meat sector and was also significant for wool, pharmaceuticals, and blood products.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic deal for our primary sector at a time where there\u2019s geopolitical issues raging around the world; we need this deal more than ever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re calling on the Government to sign the deal, and we\u2019re calling on political parties to get behind and back it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Signing a contract blindfolded\u2019 \u2013 Winston Peters<\/p>\n
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the letter was a \u201cbreathtaking\u201d position for BusinessNZ to take.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow they and the 28 other businesses and associations could have signed up to support the India FTA without knowing what is in it is an appalling commentary on them all,\u201d Peters posted on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow on earth can there be any sort of proper analysis of the FTA if they haven\u2019t even read the agreement?\u201d<\/p>\n
Peters said his office had put that question to BusinessNZ, but had not received a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is tantamount to those businesses signing a contract blindfolded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it is true that this support for the FTA is not based on the actual text but instead relies on media reports and conflicting perspectives from different parties, it is a terrible indictment on how they operate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Issues and inconsistencies\u2019 \u2013 Labour<\/p>\n
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Labour had seen the open letter \u201cfrom the businesses which would benefit from the trade agreement\u201d and it was important that any deal worked in the long-term interests of all New Zealanders.<\/p>\n
Hipkins said Labour had been asking the Government for a response to its concerns for almost two months, but the Government had yet to provide the detail Labour had requested.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are issues and inconsistencies that still need to be clarified by the Government to ensure any deal works in the long-term interest of New Zealanders,\u201d Hipkins said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we\u2019ve received the details and worked through all the advice, we will discuss as a caucus and make a decision about whether to support the legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The open letter, organised by BusinessNZ, was signed by 28 exporters and industry associations, such as Federated Farmers,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19064,1863,3043,12205,29744,4975,96265,2344,117,111,43,139,21353,69,90,24637,45125,61,3010,584,102,2963],"class_list":{"0":"post-377335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-agreement","9":"tag-back","10":"tag-call","11":"tag-dexter","12":"tag-exporters","13":"tag-free","14":"tag-giles","15":"tag-india","16":"tag-new","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-nona","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-on","23":"tag-parliament","24":"tag-pelletier","25":"tag-to","26":"tag-top","27":"tag-trade","28":"tag-with","29":"tag-zealands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}