China FTA - Are Negotiations About To Conclude?

There is much speculation around town that the negotiations on the China-New Zealand FTA that are due to begin tomorrow will be the final round of substantive negotiations (the lawyers may still have their Christmas ruined). There has been some real rubbish printed and spoken about the likely outcome in recent weeks. We are expecting to see comprehensive coverage of all goods, with all products moving to tariff free treatment. There may, however, be some long phase outs - dairy, for example. We also expect to see some good advances on services. The Government can't risk leaving services out of this negotiation following the drubbing it took for the substandard agreement with Thailand. The poor quality of the agreement with Thailand saw New Zealand subject to criticism in some foreign capitals also. The US Government was one that wasn't happy. Achieving an outcome this week will only bolster Chief Negotiator David Walker's chances of getting the Deputy Secretary slot that Derek Leask is about to vacate.