By Alex Tarrant
Pharmac, the government entity that subsidises pharmaceutical products in New Zealand, has been hugely successful and government will take a fair bit of convincing that it was not the right model, Prime Minister John Key says.
There are fears Pharmac may be on the chopping block as New Zealand negotiates a free trade deal with the United States under the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Advocacy groups in New Zealand have called for more transparency of government negotiations with the US, saying private interests in the US are calling for Pharmac to be disbanded under any free trade agreement.
Asked on Monday evening whether the government was coming under more pressure from US advocacy groups and politicians to get rid of the Pharmac model, Key replied the government’s view was a successful completion of the Trans Pacific Partnership would be beneficial, on balance, to the New Zealand economy.
“Now there are individual component parts of laws we’ve negotiated, and I’m not going to set bottom lines on those today,” Key told media in the Beehive.
“What I can say is New Zealand won’t sign up to an agreement unless it believes it’s, overall, in New Zealand’s best interest to do so,” he said.
“There’ll always be some give and take in every relationship that we have, and you’ll have that on the agricultural side internationally, just as there are other requests coming at us. But I’m not going to go through the individual parts of that.
“Let’s just see how the process goes, and let’s see how successful we can be."
The government thought Pharmac had been "hugely successful,” Key said.
“We think it makes money for New Zealand – or is the most cost-efficient way of purchasing pharmaceuticals for New Zealanders – and we’ll take a fair bit of convincing that that wasn’t the right model,” he said.
“But rather than get into an adversarial relationship or negotiation played out through the media, I’d rather allow our negotiators to have some freedom to have the negotiations and they’ll periodically report back to the government.
“All I can say is we’re not going to do something that’s not in New Zealand’s best interest,” Key said.
“Let’s wait and see – there are a lot of component parts here. We’re talking about access, through a free trade agreement, to arguably the largest economy in the world. That’s the prize if you can complete a US FTA, which is what TPP is,” he said.
13 Comments
FYI from Radio NZ. Here's what the US drug lobby really want to do to Pharmac.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/75955/us-senators-want-drug-buying-agency-crackdown
Political pressure is mounting on United States president Barack Obama not to do a trade deal with New Zealand which leaves the drug-buying agency Pharmac untouched.
Twenty-eight US senators have written to Mr Obama calling for a crackdown in the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks on drug-buying bodies, warning of dangers to American business interests from such a deal.
Why do we want to do an FTA with America?
They won't let us in sell more dairy. If fact, they want to use the FTA to neuter Fonterra.
They want to impose draconian laws on the use of the Internet to protect movie and music studios.
And now they want to kill off Pharmac.
It's a dumb deal we shouldn't even be bothering to negotiate.
America is a corporate run plutocracy that operates in its own best interests.
It routinely uses these bilateral trade agreements to beat up little guys like us.
And we're happy to step into the ring.
Nuts.
cheers
Bernard
I think the NZ public needs to know exactly what we are gaining out of an FTA with the USA. I share your fears Bernard.
One lesson I have learned, from a combination of past mistakes and also educating myself on the principles of Warren Buffett, is ALWAYS protect against the downside in any investment decision.
It is not wise to pay a definite cost in losing Pharmac/Fonterra if the upside is a gamble.
Yes - NZ herald! Let the mindless uneducated masses soak-up your mindless uneducated blather. The great thing about most international economic policy and international trade is that it is negotiated by people who understand it - and understand the severity of knee jerk reactions - and are not swayed by populists like you.
The fact that you don't understand it is moot. You don't need to understand it or like it. Let the grown ups deal with it.
"to beat up little guys like us.".................. sensational
is a corporate run plutocracy ................you better have another look at John Boy you've missed something.
step into the ring..............dont flatter yourself your even ringside
FTA to neuter Fonterra.........top of their global list of things to do I'm sure.
"...a fair bit of convincing that it was not the right model, Prime Minister John Key says"
which will happen when Smiley Wavey meets Barry 'the great liar' in the Whitehouse....and it's goodbye to Pharmac and hello to a new and steady stream of govt bullshit on why doing a deal involving the usa is just oh so wonderful for all of us.....
For F### sake John, why don't you understand it....
America is concerned that Pharmac could serve as a model for other countries with much larger markets that join the TPP. For them Pharmac has to go or else there's no TPP. Key is most likely going to fold (as he did with Warner brothers), he wants his "prize" . It's never a good idea to have popularity-obsessed politicians involved in such deal-makings.
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