Bob Edlin: Māori trade lobby (waving the Treaty) is miffed by FTA with India....

Māori trade lobby (waving the Treaty) is miffed by FTA with India – but it’s hard to find the discriminatory provisions

Here at PoO we can understand the disappointment of the dairy industry, after the Government announced a “free trade” agreement with India which offered very little to them.

We are not so sure about the miff expressed by an outfit called Ngā Toki Whakarururanga,

NTW broadcast its disappointment in a statement headed India FTA – A Lost Opportunity For Māori.

Really?

What opportunity has been lost?

Yes, Maori in the dairy industry will share the disappointment of all other operators in the dairy industry.

But the press statement headline suggests Māori have been short-changed in ways that non-Maori have not.

Bollocks.

Ngā Toki Whakarururanga’s beef is that Maori have not been given privileges to which they believe they are entitled whenever they wave a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Their statement says:

Given Indias behaviour throughout these negotiations, Ng Toki Whakarururanga is highly sceptical of any claims that this agreement may benefit Mori [sic] or be consistent with the Crowns Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.

But if the agreement benefits many industries – as the government contends – why should Māori be excluded from the goodies?

According to the government, the FTA provides New Zealand goods and services exporters with:

• significant tariff preferences on key exports;

• preferential access to India’s middle class which within five years will provide a larger market than the entire population of the EU or ASEAN ;

• a more level playing field with key competitors who already have FTAs or other advantages in India, including Australia, UK, and Chile among others; and

• greater opportunity for diversification and to grow exports

There is no hint of Māori being subjected to exclusions clauses.

Key outcomes include:

• 95% of New Zealand’s current exports will be tariff free or have sharply reduced tariffs

• Tariffs will be fully eliminated immediately on day one for more than half of our exports and for over 80% once the FTA is fully phased in. The average tariff applied to our current exports will drop sharply to just 3%.

• Estimated tariff savings on day one of $43 million growing to $62 million based on current trade levels, likely to rise with the expected growth in trade resulting from the FTA.

• In services and wine, gains are future proofed with a commitment that any better outcome offered to India’s FTA partners will be automatically passed on to us; similarly, the FTA contains a consultation commitment for dairy should India offer tariff concessions to a comparable economy in future.

• Streamlined customs processes at the border, reduced transaction costs, increased transparency, and greater certainty for exporters.

• India Customs will release all goods within 48 hours, and in the case of perishable goods and express consignments, endeavour to do so within 24 hours.

• Services exporters, particularly in key sectors like fintech, tertiary and private education, professional and environmental services will benefit from a level playing field with competitors.

• As with our other trade agreements, the FTA includes a Treaty of Waitangi exception that protects the New Zealand Government’s ability to adopt any policy it considers necessary to fulfil its obligations to Māori.

• A significant focus on cooperation and technical assistance activities that will provide opportunities to grow durable, long term, and mutually beneficial partnerships between Indian and New Zealand sectors, (including for forestry, horticulture, apiculture and honey, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, wine, traditional knowledge, and medicine, tourism, audio visual production and sports).

Aren’t Māori allowed into those industries – or is something going on to prevent them from sharing the rewards?

Let’s see if the NTW statement can enlighten us:

Ngā Toki Whakarururanga initially welcomed negotiations with India in the expectation that there could be innovative, win-win opportunities for Māori and India’s Indigenous and local communities in areas of common interest.

This was communicated to Trade Minister Todd McClay and the New Zealand’s lead negotiator Vangelis Vitalis last April.

Ngā Toki Whakarururanga sought an active role in the negotiations, consistent with the Crown’s commitment in the Mediation Agreement to ensure “meaningful and genuine influence” in such negotiations.

Regrettably, despite the best endeavours of the officials and the Minister, India has not enabled that to occur and has refused to allow the sharing of text on a confidential basis, as has been agreed in other recent negotiations.

So they hoped for a slice of the action around the negotiating table, but were denied it.

The Crown committed to table, for the first time, a new best practice protection for Te Tiriti o Waitangi that was jointly developed with Ngā Toki Whakarururanga to replace the limited Treaty of Waitangi exception in free trade agreements that dates back to 2001. However, India has not allowed the sharing of text even on that crucial provision.

Given India’s behaviour throughout these negotiations, Ngā Toki Whakarururanga is highly sceptical of any claims that this agreement may benefit Māori or be consistent with the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.

As with previous agreements, Ngā Toki Whakaruruanga will conduct a comprehensive Tiriti o Waitangi assessment of this free trade agreement as part of our responsibility to hold the Crown to account for its actions in the international trade arena.

But who are Ngā Toki Whakarururanga?

A Treaty-waving “by-Māori-for-Māori” collective established to protect and advance Māori interests in international trade policy.

It was formed in late 2020 following a Mediation Agreement reached during the Waitangi Tribunal inquiry (Wai-2522). That inquiry investigated claims that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) breached the Crown’s obligations to Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi.

The group’s main mission is to ensure Māori have “genuine and effective influence” over all stages of New Zealand’s trade policy and negotiations.

Its scepticism about the India agreement is at odds with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website, which says:

Treaty of Waitangi

As with all of New Zealand’s free trade agreements since 2001, our agreement with India contains a Treaty of Waitangi clause that protects the New Zealand Government’s ability to adopt any policy it considers necessary to fulfil its obligations to Māori.

MFAT further says:

The NZ-India FTA will increase opportunities and reduce barriers for Māori businesses. The Māori economy will benefit from a significant tariff reduction on mānuka honey, as well as tariff elimination in other areas such as forestry and sheep meat. The benefits to New Zealand from services commitments will also be felt in the Māori economy, with Māori entrepreneurs able to take advantage of these new opportunities.

Furthermore, the NZ-India FTA includes a Cultural, Trade, Traditional Knowledge and Economic Cooperation Chapter. This provides a framework “to pursue mutual cooperation to enable and advance the Parties’ economic and cultural aspirations, including Māori for New Zealand”.

But there is bound to be someone somewhere who says there is a grievance here for the Waitangi Tribunal to sort out.

Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.