Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback New Zealand Bill of Rights Act Reports

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Legislation Bill (Consistent) [2021] NZBORARp 19 (7 April 2021)

Last Updated: 7 May 2021

7 April 2021

LEGAL ADVICE

LPA 01 01 24

Hon David Parker, Attorney-General

Consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990: Tariff (RCEP) Amendment Bill

1. We have considered whether the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Legislation Bill (the Bill) is consistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (the Bill of Rights Act).
2. The purpose of the Bill is to implement the legislative components of a plurilateral free trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, signed at Hanoi on 15 November 2020 (RCEP). The RCEP was negotiated between New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei-Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). The Bill is an omnibus Bill that amends the Customs and Excise Act 2018, the Tariff Act 1988, and the Tariff of New Zealand as set out in the Working Tariff Document effective 1 January 2021.
3. We have not yet received a final version of the Bill. This advice has been prepared in relation to the latest version of the Bill (PCO 21853/7.0). We will provide you with further advice if the final version includes amendments that affect the conclusions in this advice.
4. We have concluded that the Bill appears to be consistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed in the Bill of Rights Act.
   

Jeff Orr

Chief Legal Counsel Office of Legal Counsel