Letter of Support: NZCCI Submission on AANZFTA Upgrade

The Wellington Chamber of Commerce and Business Central (The Chamber) writes to express our support for the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (NZCCI) submission to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade on The Upgrade of the ASEAN-Australian-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

The Chamber has been the voice of business in the Wellington region for 162 years, since 1856, and advocates policies that reflect the interests of the business community in both the city and region, and the development of the region’s economy as a whole. The Chamber advocates the views of its members and obtains that view through regularly surveying members.

We are a business membership association, representing 3,625 members and their interests throughout the Wellington region, as well as being one of the four regional organisations comprising New Zealand’s peak business advocacy group, BusinessNZ. In Wellington, our organisation operates the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, accredited to the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce network. Our organisation also delivers ExportNZ to Wellington, the Hawke’s Bay and the Central region.

Our organisation wholly endorses the seven recommendations suggested by NZCCI:

Widen the scope of the AANZFTA Upgrade to include non-tariff barriers/non-tariff measures.
We endorse NZIBF’s position on the following key trading issues: Services, e-Commerce, Investment, Customs Procedures, and Government Procurement.
The status quo regarding certification of origin is maintained through the use of third-party certificates.
AANZFTA, Chapter 3, Operational Certificate Procedures (OCP), Rule 7, Paragraph 3i be change to read “shall be electronic”.
If origin certification status quo is not continued, look at a two-pronged system where both selfcertification and third-party certification is permitted.
Should a two-pronged origin certification system be utilised, MFAT negotiators should look at the system implemented in Japanese trade agreements.
The minimum value of a shipment required for a certificate of origin be increased to US$1,000 FOB value.
Exporters continue to have the option of using either the ‘Change of Tariff Classification’ (CTC) or ‘Regional Value Content’ (RVC) 40 rules when determining origin.

We believe there are clear benefits in continuing to have third-party certification for origin exports and there are potential risks involved in moving to a self-certification system that have not been taken into account. These benefits and risks are clearly outlined in the NZCCI submission.

The Chamber supports NZCCI’s submission to MFAT and wholly endorses their comments regarding the FTA upgrade. When considering their submission, we would appreciate you adding our voice and the voice of our 3,625 members to their submission.

As part of the NZCCI board we would appreciate the opportunity to speak to the MFAT negotiators on this issue.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit our thought and the thoughts of our exporting members on
the AANZFTA Upgrade.

Yours sincerely,