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Trade Minister Tim Groser has welcomed the signing of a Protocol to amend the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).

“The changes included in the Protocol will make AANZFTA more business-friendly, transparent and flexible,” Mr Groser says.

Mr Groser and other AANZFTA economic ministers signed the Protocol today at a meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

Minister Tim Groser travels to Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, this week to participate in a series of annual regional trade meetings.  He will also attend the Sixth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations in Bali, Indonesia.

Trade Minister Tim Groser will attend the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Sydney this weekend, and also participate in the preceding Business-20 (B20) summit, which will bring together a number of international business leaders.

“While not a core member of the G20, New Zealand is supportive of the G20’s aims - in particular its aspirations to lift global economic growth,” Mr Groser says.

Trade and Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has welcomed the formal launch of international negotiations on the liberalisation of environmental goods. 

The negotiations were launched overnight by a group of members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

“New Zealand is very pleased to be a part of this new initiative,” says Mr Groser.

Climate Change Minister Tim Groser departs today to attend the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate in Paris, followed by a visit to Berlin to participate in the Fifth Petersburg Climate Dialogue.

The MEF brings together 17 of the world’s largest economies to hold discussions about international negotiations for a new climate change agreement.  The US convenes the meeting several times a year, and New Zealand is invited as a special participant.

Trade Minister Tim Groser departs today for Mexico to attend the Pacific Alliance Summit in Punta Mita, and undertake bilateral meetings in Mexico City. Mr Groser will then visit Washington D.C. and New York to carry out a range of trade and foreign affairs focussed activities.

New Zealand is an observer member of the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc, with four member states - Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Trade Minister Tim Groser today announced the reappointment of Karen Fistonich and Robin Hapi to the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Board.

“I would like to thank Karen and Robin for their work on the board since they were first appointed in 2011, and look forward to their continued contributions to the work of NZTE,” Mr Joyce says.

Trade Minister Tim Groser departs today for Manila, Philippines where he will lead a delegation of ten companies on a trade mission to raise awareness and open doors in South East Asia.

"The Philippine economy has been among the fastest growing in Asia in recent times, and this is a good time to be forging close business ties,” says Mr Groser.

“Trade with the Philippines is underpinned by the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), which has now been in force for over four years.”

Trade Minister Tim Groser has announced that the fourth CER-ASEAN Integration Partnership Forum will take place in Auckland on 22 May 2014.

The annual Integration Partnership Forum aims to share lessons from the Closer Economic Relations Agreement (CER) between New Zealand and Australia with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Government welcomes the passage of legislation amending the Climate Change Response Act 2002 so that only New Zealand Units (NZUs) can be surrendered by participants when deregistering post-1989 forest land from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The amended act will remove the opportunity to arbitrage NZUs by registering and deregistering the same piece of post-1989 forest land from the ETS multiple times.

Trade Minister Tim Groser will depart tomorrow for Qingdao, China to represent the New Zealand Government at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) on 17-18 May.

APEC Trade Ministers will be focusing on priority areas including: regional economic integration, promoting innovative development, economic reform and growth, and strengthening comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure development.

Minister of Trade and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Tim Groser will visit Tunisia from 8-9 May - the first New Zealand Minister to do so since World War II.

As the first country to experience the "Arab Spring", Tunisia's transition period has not been without challenges,  but Tunisia  has made impressive progress in recent months, most notably with agreement on a new constitution.

New Zealand’s service sector ranked amongst the most open in a recent survey of 40 countries conducted by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) says Trade Minister, Tim Groser, speaking from the OECD's annual Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. 

The OECD’s new Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) aims to quantify the restrictiveness of policy measures related to trade in services for the 34 OECD members countries as well as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa across 18 sectors.

Trade Minister Tim Groser will depart today for the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, North Africa and France to undertake a range of activities and bilateral calls.

“The focus of my bilateral meetings in the UAE and Kuwait will be on strengthening Gulf relationships through ratification of the New Zealand-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement (NZ-GCC FTA), and promoting New Zealand’s value proposition as a food security, investment, and education partner,” Mr Groser says.

Minister for Climate Change Issues Tim Groser says the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasises the need for a truly global agreement in 2015 to ensure efforts to cut greenhouse gases (GHG) are effective.

The IPCC Working Group III report on the mitigation of climate change was released on Sunday 13 April. It says deep cuts in GHG emissions remain possible but there are significant challenges.

Minister for Climate Change Issues Tim Groser says New Zealand will comfortably meet its Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas reduction targets following the release of New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Net Position today.

“The reports show that we are on track to meet our commitments and we will have a surplus of credits,” Mr Groser says.

The Government is to boost NZTE's trade presence in China, South America and the Middle East to help more New Zealand firms break into these growing markets.

In a speech today to the North Harbour Club, Prime Minister John Key announced that Budget 2014 would contain funding of $69 million over the next four years (including $14 million of reprioritised funding) to help New Zealand Trade and Enterprise assist more exporters to succeed internationally.

Trade Minister Tim Groser welcomes the release of a report by the World Economic Forum ranking New Zealand fourth in the world for enabling trade.

The Global Enabling Trade Report 2014 measures the extent that economies have institutions, policy, infrastructure and services in place that facilitate the flow of goods and services.

“New Zealand’s positive result endorses the Government’s Business Growth Agenda,” says Mr Groser.

Climate Change Minister Tim Groser welcomes a new Climate Change report from the Intergovernmental Panel that puts a focus on adapting to the impacts of climate change.

“The latest IPCC report is another useful contribution to climate change science that will help inform our climate policy. We can use the information in the report to help ensure that New Zealand’s economy, environment and society are resilient to the impacts of climate change,” says Mr Groser.

Trade Minister Tim Groser and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy are leading an agribusiness delegation to Chile and Colombia from 23-28 March.

“Latin America is a valued trading partner for New Zealand and a fast growing region,” says Mr Groser. 

“Our relationship with Chile is thriving with a high level of engagement in areas such as energy and environment, agriculture and education. They are encouraging New Zealand business to explore future investment opportunities and we hope to build on this.

Associate Minister for Primary Industries Jo Goodhew and Minister for Climate Change Issues Tim Groser have today announced changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) which will allow for greater transparency.

“From April buyers and sellers of carbon units will be able to see where the unit has come from, so they know how the unit was generated,” says Mrs Goodhew.

Trade Minister Tim Groser will depart today for Singapore to join Ministers from countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for the next round of negotiations.

“The momentum of negotiations is accelerating, evidenced by the work completed by Ministers last December in identifying potential landing zones for the majority of key outstanding issues in the negotiations,” says Mr Groser.

Minister for Climate Change Issues Tim Groser has welcomed the publishing of New Zealand’s Sixth National Communication on Climate Change and the associated First Biennial Report.

Trade Minister Tim Groser today welcomed the significant progress made during the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial meetings in Singapore over the last four days.