Sustainability Council Report Highlights Possible Breach Of WTO Commitments

The report that was released yesterday by the Sustainability Council on the extent to which the proposed emissions trading scheme is subsidising big business highlights one of the big vulnerabilities of the scheme - its potential breach of New Zealand's WTO subsidy commitments. Where is the latest MFAT advice on this matter? Not only might this be a breach of commitments but it could also make exports from companies receiving these subsidies vulnerable to countervailing duty actions. This is a further reason for delaying the scheme. Thank you Simon Terry and team for highlighting this problem so clearly.