Legal and Institutional Issues. FTAs include legal and institutional provisions that cover such things as how and when the Agreement will enter into force, how it will relate to other international agreements already in place, how Parties should resolve issues in the case of a dispute, and what exceptions are allowed. In the CPTPP, these are covered by the Initial Provisions, Administrative & Institutional, Dispute Settlement, Exceptions, and Final Provisions chapters which – with the exception of provisions related to accession, entry into force, withdrawal and languages – are incorporated from TPP into CTPP. A number of legal and institutional provisions are included in CPTPP that touch upon new areas not previously addressed in New Zealand’s existing FTAs. In part, this reflects the size, scope and complexity of the Agreement as a whole. For example, CPTPP includes some novel transparency provisions intended to assist businesses operating in other CPTPP markets, and to combat bribery and corruption. The Dispute Settlement chapter (which applies to the majority of other chapters) includes some mechanisms that vary from New Zealand’s previous FTA practice and WTO procedures, but achieves the same overall outcome of providing effective, efficient, fair, and transparent processes for the resolution of disputes between governments. The chapter requires Parties to make every attempt to resolve disputes through cooperation and consultations before resorting to the procedures provided for in the chapter. However, if resolution cannot be reached, Parties may invoke the provisions of the chapter which provide for compulsory dispute settlement procedures.
Legal and Institutional Issues. The legal and institutional provisions include party-to-party dispute settlement mechanisms that are simple, effective, and flexible in line with the principles and guidelines of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding and with New Zealand’s best practice in trade agreements. The chapters also include appropriate general provisions, review mechanisms and general exceptions including the Treaty of Waitangi and creative arts exceptions, in line with previous New Zealand trade agreements.
Legal and Institutional Issues. FTAs include legal and institutional provisions that cover such things as how and when the Agreement will enter into force, how it will relate to other international agreements already in place, how Parties should resolve issues in the case of a dispute, and what exceptions are allowed. In the CPTPP, these are covered by the Initial Provisions, Administrative & Institutional, Dispute Settlement, Exceptions, and Final Provisions chapters which – with the exception of provisions related to accession, entry into force, withdrawal and languages – are incorporated from TPP into CTPP. A number of legal and institutional provisions are included in CPTPP that touch upon new areas not previously addressed in New Zealand’s existing FTAs. In part, this reflects the size, scope and complexity of the Agreement as a whole. For example, CPTPP includes some novel transparency provisions intended to assist businesses operating in other CPTPP markets, and to combat bribery and corruption. The Dispute Settlement chapter (which applies to the majority of other chapters) includes some mechanisms that vary from New Zealand’s previous FTA practice and WTO procedures, but achieves the same overall outcome of providing effective, efficient, fair, and transparent processes for the resolution of disputes between governments. The chapter requires Parties to make every attempt to resolve disputes through cooperation and consultations before resorting to the procedures provided for in the chapter. However, if resolution cannot be reached, Parties may invoke the provisions of the chapter which provide for compulsory dispute settlement procedures. Advantages of entering CPTPP, Legal and Institutional Issues Under the Dispute Settlement chapter, the New Zealand Government would be able to pursue a matter to formal dispute resolution should one or more of its CPTPP partners fail to act consistently with its obligations under the Agreement. This would help ensure the advantages gained across the Agreement were accessible to New Zealand goods and services exporters. For example, if New Zealand brought a successful claim against another CPTPP Party, and that Party did not bring the relevant measure into compliance with CPTPP, then New Zealand could impose increased tariffs on products from that Party in order to induce them to bring their measure into compliance. This form of robust, transparent dispute settlement procedure is considered to be to New Zealand’s advantage, particularly as a s...
