New Zealand is being sold down the river in February

TPPA to be signed in NZ – report

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3News,

7 January, 2015

The Government says it's yet to be confirmed where and when the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will be signed, despite reports it would take place in New Zealand next month.

Law professor and vocal opponent of the deal, Jane Kelsey, says the Chilean government has confirmed the deal will be signed on February 4 in New Zealand, with international media stating director general of the country's General International Economic Relations Bureau, Andres Rebolledo, announced the details in a meeting with the Chile's National Human Rights Institute.

Mexico's Minister of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, also confirmed the 12 parties would be signing the agreement here in February, according to the country's El Financiero newspaper.

But in a statement this afternoon, Duty Minister Simon Bridges said nothing had been finalised yet.

"Arrangements for the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership are not yet confirmed, as a number of countries are still working through their domestic approval processes required before signature.

"Further details will be announced when and if they are confirmed."

The controversial 12-nation agreement was reached after five years of negotiations and a marathon session of talks last October.

Once officially signed, the countries will individually begin work on ratifying the deal. In order for it go through, at least six countries – representing a minimum of 85 percent of the gross domestic product of the 12 nations - need to ratify the agreement.

The deal will officially come into effect 60 days after the 12th member country ratifies it.

Jane Kelsey: Offshore confirmation: Ministers to sign TPPA in NZ on 4 February 2016

By Evening Report -

Source: Professor Jane Kelsey. 

The ministers from the twelve countries who negotiated the the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will sign it in New Zealand on 4 February, a government spokesperson from Chile has confirmed.[1]

The New Zealand government has made no formal announcement, despite reports that it would host the meeting since the APEC summit last November.

‘Consistent with the government’s obsessively secrecy throughout the TPPA process, we have to get confirmation of what is happening in our own country from offshore’, says Auckland University Professor Jane Kelsey, who has led legal action to challenge the government’s failure to release information on the TPPA.

‘Polls have shown the government doesn’t have popular support for the deal. Presumably it wants to limit the chance for New Zealanders to make their opposition heard’, Kelsey said. ‘We were reliably told by offshore sources some time ago that the meeting is in Auckland, but we expect the government to try to keep the actual venue secret until much closer to the day’.

A series of high profile public meetings has been planned for the main cities at the end of January, starting with Auckland Town Hall on the evening of 26th January, followed by Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

The star attraction will be Lori Wallach, director of Washington based Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, the organisation founded by Ralph Nader. She last toured New Zealand when the TPPA ministerial meeting was held here in late 2010.

‘The US holds the key to the fate of the TPPA. Lori Wallach probably knows more than anyone about what is really happening in the US Congress and across the corporate lobbies and civil society groups in America. Her insights will provide a reality check in advance of the pr spin that is bound to surround the signing’, Kelsey said.

[1] http://www.bna.com/tpp-countries-sign-n57982065797