Nueva Zelanda-China
Nueva Zelanda y China firmaron el 7 de abril de 2008 un tratado de libre comercio bilateral de amplio alcance. Fue el primer TLC bilateral firmado por China con un país de los llamados ‘desarrollados’. El acuerdo entró en vigor el 1 de octubre de 2008.
El TLC de Nueva Zelanda y China ha despertado una cantidad de preocupaciones entre los neozelandeses, especialmente en lo que atañe a:
las normas de calidad pobres en materia ambiental y de inocuidad de los alimentos que subyacen a las exportaciones agropecuarias de la China a Nueva Zelanda, las cuales habrán de incrementarse como resultado del acuerdo; las condiciones laborales y la carencia de derechos a la que están sujetos los trabajadores y trabajadoras chinos, y que el TLC no aborda; los antecedentes generales de la China en materia de derechos humanos, entre ellos la represión en Tibet; la facultad que les da el acuerdo a las empresas chinas de llevar a juicio al gobierno de Nueva Zelanda en caso que este decidiera restringir de cualquier modo el comercio y las inversiones chinas por motivos asociados a los derechos laborales, las normas ambientales o preocupaciones relativas a la salud; y la inviabilidad en la que se verán los productores neozelandeses de frutas y legumbre para competir con la avalancha de importaciones chinas, debido a sus costos de producción menores, especialmente su componente salarial.
Hubo una cierta cantidad de grupos empresariales de Nueva Zelanda ansiosos de expandir sus operaciones en China que estaban conformes con el acuerdo, claro está. Uno de ellos fue Fonterra, la empresa más grande de Nueva Zelanda y tercer mayor exportador de productos lácteos del mundo. Fonterra aprovechó el acuerdo para comprar empresas lácteas chinas y fortalecer sus negocios en ese país. Pero cuando estalló el escándalo de la leche contaminada con melamina en septiembre de 2008 y la gente se enteró que Fonterra —que era dueña del 43% de Sanlu, la principal empresa láctea china— sabía de la contaminación desde hacía varios meses pero nunca dijo nada, las recriminaciones no se hicieron esperar. (Más de 300.000 personas se enfermaron y seis bebes murieron por fallas del riñón provocadas por la leche contaminada. A finales de 2008 la empresa Sanlu se declaró en quiebra).
última actualización: mayo de 2012
Artículos
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10-abr-2008 Peters swears to be good on FTA
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters appears to have backed down on a threat to criticise the free trade agreement with China while he is overseas, promising the prime minister he will not denounce it publicly. -
9-abr-2008 NZ First’s China advertisement to be investigated
The Electoral Commission will consider a New Zealand First advertisement that appeared in daily papers this morning at their next meeting. -
9-abr-2008 Winston’s message: No to the FTA
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand could have done better than it did in the free trade agreement it signed on Monday with China, and that is why his New Zealand First party won’t support it. -
9-abr-2008 Trade pact is front page news
China’s trade deal with New Zealand has made the front pages in Beijing. -
7-abr-2008 PMC China: Local activist groups soft pedal on NZ free trade deal
Chinese activist groups cool on opposition to New Zealand’s fair trade deal with China. Katie Small checks out the marginal minorities’ views after the crackdown in Tibet. -
6-abr-2008 Momentous trade deal signing tomorrow
New Zealand will sign up to its biggest bilateral trade deal in 25 years in a ceremony in Beijing tomorrow. -
5-abr-2008 TV3 Last minute protests over China’s free trade deal
Protestors in Auckland and Wellington have made a last minute plea to stop a free trade agreement between New Zealand and China. They say the Government is ignoring human rights for the sake of selling a few pounds of butter. -
4-abr-2008 Cuddling up to China
The "smog and mirrors" surrounding New Zealand’s historic free trade agreement with China is about to lift, along with remnants of the Beijing winter. -
4-abr-2008 Maori divided over free trade deal
Ngai Tahu Seafood, the lucrative fisheries arm of one of the largest Maori tribes, says the Government’s controversial free-trade pact with China is a good deal and will earn the iwi millions of dollars. -
4-abr-2008 Goff leaves for FTA signing in China
Trade Minister Phil Goff leaves for China tomorrow to play his part in the signing of the free trade deal between New Zealand and China. -
4-abr-2008 Hopes of fast FTA benefits for NZ
Business leaders are optimistic that the free trade agreement with China will be comprehensive and have quicker phaseout periods for tariffs than a similar pact New Zealand signed with Thailand in 2005. -
1ro-abr-2008 China free to take as tough a line as it likes
In apartheid days, support for rugby tours used to be called "building bridges". Opponents, among them today’s Prime Minister, thought sports boycotts more likely to effect change. The argument spilled into the streets in 1981. -
1ro-abr-2008 Beware FTA, says Kiwi in China
Shifting production of her brand to China has put more money in Cushla Reed’s pocket, allowed her to make lifestyle choices such as having a baby, and given her business a future. -
31-mar-2008 Free trade deal also strategic, says PM
New Zealand’s free trade agreement with China is about more than reducing tariffs - it is also a strategic move which acknowledges that the emerging superpower will become the world’s biggest economy, says Prime Minister Helen Clark. -
31-mar-2008 Public divided over FTA, poll shows
The public is divided over the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China that Prime Minister Helen Clark is due to sign in Beijing on April 7, a poll published today shows. -
31-mar-2008 MPs to vote for deal on China
A free trade agreement with China looks set to win the overwhelming backing of Parliament. -
31-mar-2008 Scoop NZ: Anti-Free Trade March April 5
The Prime Minister has left New Zealand on a trip which will include the signing of a free trade agreement with China in the second week of April. Global Peace and Justice Auckland and Unite Union are organising a protest march to take place shortly before the FTA is signed. -
28-mar-2008 Dunne boycotts China trade trip over Tibet
United Future leader Peter Dunne has turned down a trip to China for the free trade deal signing to protest the treatment of Tibetan people. -
27-mar-2008 Greens warn against China FTA
The Greens are citing past experience as a warning against the upcoming free trade deal with China. -
25-mar-2008 Clark cautious on China deal
China is holding off giving final approval for a free-trade pact with New Zealand.
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NZ-China FTA
New Zealand government’s webpage on the NZ-China FTA
