Expert panel to discuss next steps on TPPA
Victoria University experts say it is critical people understand the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and will
tomorrow (Tuesday 23 February 2016) host a public seminar to promote discussion.
Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Gordon Anderson, Carwyn Jones and Susy Frankel, from the Faculty of Law, will give commentary
about the agreement at the seminar from 10am to 12 noon at the Faculty of Law on Lambton Quay, Wellington. There will be
opportunity for the audience to comment and ask questions as well.
“There is high public interest in the TPPA and informed discussion is important to ensure people understand what the
agreement really means for New Zealand,” says Professor Frankel, Director of the New Zealand Centre of International
Economic Law (NZCIEL). “We are expecting lively discussion tomorrow.”
Meredith Kolsky Lewis will discuss the next steps in the ratification process in the United States and prospects for the
agreement; Gordon Anderson will talk to the TPPA labour chapter; Carwyn Jones will address the implications of the TPPA
for Māori and rights under the Treaty of Waitangi; and Susy Frankel will cover intellectual property issues and their
relationship with investment under the new agreement.
Professor Lewis from SUNY Buffalo Law School, Buffalo, New York, is also part of the Victoria Faculty of Law
(part-time). She is an internationally renowned scholar of international economic law, with a particular emphasis on
international trade law and the World Trade Organization, and has commentated and published extensively about the TPPA.
Professor Anderson is an employment and labour law specialist and he has written on the subject extensively, including Labour Law in New Zealand. He has written on international trade law and in particular New Zealand’s trade agreements at both bilateral and
multilateral levels. He is the current Hicks Morley Professor of International and Comparative Labour Law at the
University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Dr Jones, of Ngāti Kahungunu descent, is a Treaty of Waitangi and Māori law specialist. He has previously worked in a
number of different roles at the Waitangi Tribunal, Māori Land Court, and the Office of Treaty Settlements and he is the
co-editor of the Māori Law Review.
Professor Frankel is a globally recognised authority on international intellectual property and its nexus with
international trade, including protection of indigenous peoples’ intellectual property. Her recent publications include Test Tubes Global Intellectual Property Issues: Small Market Economies (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
The panel discussion will be held in Lecture Theatre 1, Rear Courtyard, Old Government Buildings, 55 Lambton Quay,
Wellington—from10am to 12 noon on Tuesday 23 February 2016.
ENDS