Wednesday, 06 May 2020 12:43

Telephone diplomacy to fight protectionism

Written by  Peter Burke
NZ’s chief trade negotiator Vangelis Vitalis. NZ’s chief trade negotiator Vangelis Vitalis.

Rising protectionism is one of the major concerns of New Zealand exporters in the light of COVID-19.

NZ’s chief trade negotiator, Vangelis Vitalis, told Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee that as a result of COVID, many countries will resort to protecting their own economies. NZ exporters fear this will make it much harder for them.

Vitalis says exporters are also concerned about the logistics of getting goods to market, but they have praised the work done by MFAT, NZTE and MPI in keeping freight lines open. 

He says exporters are also fearful about the wider implications of losing market share.

“The problem is that if the export sector becomes weaker this will have an impact on unemployment and incomes in the regions,” he explained. “They also make the point that a lot of those exporting have around them a cluster of small and medium-sized business that service them, which are vital to their operations.” 

Vitalis says exporters are concerned at what he calls the fragmentation loss of ‘trade architecture’ around trade agreements – something that NZ has extraordinarily strong views on. This particularly relates to agreements endorsed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

It is said that protectionism made the great depression of the 1930s worse and longer. Noting that lesson from history, ministers, MFAT – along with NZTE – have embarked on a programme to ensure that work on FTAs still progresses. 

Rural News understands that a virtual round of negotiations with the EU on our FTA with them has taken place and that work on the upgraded China FTA is on schedule. Work is also being done on an FTA with the UK in preparation for when that country is ready to begin negotiations.

Telephone diplomacy is the new order of the day with Trade Minister David Parker having regular discussions with his counterparts in Australia, Canada, UAE and Singapore to name a few.

The three R's approach

Vangelis Vitalis says MFAT is embarking on a three-pronged approach called the three Rs – re-tooling, re-integration and re-energising to front foot our recovery. 

Re-tooling, he says, is about working with countries that share NZ’s desire for free trade. He says it’s troubling to see the talk about protectionism – especially around agriculture which is such a major contributor to the economy, both externally in terms of dollars earned and employment on the home front. He says a recent success was persuading Indonesia to allow NZ onion exports into that country.

Re-integration, is about looking at the issue of trade architecture – things like the role of the WTO and FTA’s and winning support for this approach. He says NZ is devoting considerable effort to pushing for rules-based free trade.

“Legal enforceability of the systems is so important to us,” he told Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee. “We also know that some of the major economies we would normally look to lead on these things, but they look unlikely to be unable to do this in the near future. So, we are working with smaller and medium-sized powers to construct the building blocks to support that rules-based system.”

He says while in NZ people are talking about ‘shovel ready projects,’ trade negotiators are looking to have some ‘signature ready projects’ – such as FTAs and other agreements in place.

Vitalis says re-energising relationships is about telephone and Zoom diplomacy with Minister Parker’s ongoing contact with his counterparts.

“It’s about telling the world we are back in business and that our export sector is ready to supply global needs,” he says.

Vitalis says as a nett food producer, NZ has a distinct advantage and it’s about reinforcing that message.

More like this

Locally grown fruits, veg in full supply

One of the country’s two largest supermarket chains is reporting that for the first time since the disruption of Covid, they have largely full supply on almost all fruit and vegetables grown locally.

Global shipping rates soar again

Covid-19 took global shipping rates to mind boggling highs, but over the subsequent 12-15 months they returned to more sustainable levels. Fast forward to July 2024 and rates have nearly doubled over three months.

HortNZ helps growers rebuild, recover

Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) chief executive Nadine Tunley says the industry-good body’s support for growers has proven to be multifaceted.

Featured

Massey Research Field Day attracts huge interest

More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

Boost for hort exports

The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.

National

Winter grazing warning

Every time people from overseas see photographs of cows up to their hocks in mud it's bad for New Zealand.

ANZ defends farm lending rates

The country's largest lender to the agriculture sector says it's not favouring home loans over farm and business lending.

Machinery & Products

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo…

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Review SOEs!

OPINION: NIWA has long weathered complaints about alleged stifling of competition in forecasting, and more recently, claims of lack of…

Bank reset

OPINION: Adding to calls to get banks to 'back off', NZ Agri Brokers director Andrew Laming has revealed that the…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter