The New Zealand Government has confirmed it has offered for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) to be signed in Auckland.
International media first reported the signing of the 12-country trade agreement would take place on February 4 in New Zealand.
Chilean and Mexican officials had been quoted, saying pen would go to paper in New Zealand last week; however, the New Zealand Government said nothing had been set in stone.
But today the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade said New Zealand had offered to host the signing of the TPP and the Government was looking to organise an event in early February.
Specific details of the event have not been released yet because each of the Pacific Rim countries are yet to all go through their respective processes regarding the TPP.
"For this reason specific arrangements have yet to be finalised pending confirmation from TPPA partners that they have completed their domestic procedures in order to sign the agreement," the ministry said in a statement.
An Action Station petition has been launched to stop the signing of the agreement.
It's Our Future coordinator Barry Coates says the Government shouldn't sign the deal because New Zealanders don't consent to it.
"The TPP allows multinational companies to challenge decisions of Parliament and our courts in a private international tribunal," he says.
"We now understand why the TPP was negotiated in secret. It is not in the interests of New Zealanders. Now the text is publicly available, it is clear that the deal is designed to serve the interests of large corporations and powerful states, not the interests of people or the planet."
3 News
