The rubberstamping of the TPPA

TPP signed off by select committee

A Parliamentary committee has narrowly signed off on the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, after considering hundreds of submissions.

New Zealand parliament. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

Radio NZ,

6 May, 2016

The opposition MPs on the committee opposed the agreement and have issued minority views in the report.

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee was given just five days to report on the deal, after the timeframe was drastically cut from four weeks.

More than 300 public submissions were considered by the committee, which held hearings in major cities throughout the country.

The TPP has been widely criticised, for protecting big corporations and freezing out the rights of workers and impacting health and medicine costs.

The committee said the TPP, which was signed by 12 nations in February, is expected to benefit the New Zealand economy by $2.7 billion by 2030.

The government will introduce legislation to Parliament to enact the trade deal.