Tāmaki Makaurau Joint Declaration on Inclusive and Sustainable Trade

July 16, 2023

Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and New Zealand met as the Inclusive Trade Action Group (ITAG) on 16 July, 2023 in the margins of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission in Auckland, New Zealand, to endorse a new Joint Declaration on Inclusive and Sustainable Trade, to welcome Costa Rica and Ecuador as the newest members of ITAG and the Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (GTAGA), and to invite the participation of a broader range of WTO Members and CPTPP Parties in the work of ITAG and GTAGA. In this respect, ITAG members welcomed Australia for their expression of interest to join ITAG and GTAGA in the margins of the CPTPP Commission.  ITAG Members also welcomed the participation of Colombia and Peru, and the interest of Argentina, in the GTAGA.

Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and New Zealand recognise that human and ecological well-being, and sustainable economic security of our people are inextricably linked, including in the context of the climate crisis, pandemic preparedness and other global crises.

Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and New Zealand emphasise in this regard our shared and strong commitment to uphold and support the principles of international law, including the multilateral trading system.

Building on progress achieved so far, commitments made in March 2018 at the endorsement of the Joint Declaration on Fostering Progressive and Inclusive Trade are confirmed, in particular with respect to promotion and implementation of relevant multilateral instruments, and related commitments and understandings that support ITAG objectives, including but not limited to the:

• Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 18 December 1979;
• WTO Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, December 2017;
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), 13 September 2007;
• International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, 1998;
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 9 May 1992, and the Paris Climate Accord (The Paris Agreement), 4 November 2016; and
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, 1 January 2016.

Within this context, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and New Zealand will:

1. Continue to build a community of like-minded members to advance the principles of inclusive and sustainable trade in regional and multilateral fora, including those in which ITAG Members may share membership, including the CPTPP, APEC, OECD, the Pacific Alliance, UN and the WTO;
2. Explore opportunities to collaborate on research and policy analysis between willing members such as at the OECD, UN, and the WTO, promoting the effective and meaningful engagement of women in all their diversity, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society to develop, implement and input, as appropriate, into any analysis and research opportunity, and to share information and cooperate on these reviews;
3. Work to achieve the understandings made in the GTAGA including commencing a review of the GTAGA in 2023 and implement its associated work plan;
4. Enable and empower Indigenous Peoples to identify, advance, participate in and implement initiatives to develop and expand international Indigenous trade and investment opportunities and relationships, consistent with their rights, interests, duties, responsibilities and values, according to national contexts including cultural, social, and linguistic context;
5. Promote inclusive trade policies and practices to advance the full and meaningful participation of MSMEs in the economy and to achieve sustainable, innovative and inclusive economic growth and development;
6. Share information and raise awareness on ways including initiatives, to help promote and develop domestic regional economies to ensure they benefit from the opportunities of international trade;
7. Pursue and promote innovative inclusive trade policy and relevant instruments that advance meaningful outcomes related to ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work;
8. Promote responsible business conduct and supply chain transparency, including gender–responsive supply chains, by supporting implementation of international standards including the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
9. Lead, pursue and promote mutually supportive policies in inclusive trade and environment that can drive ambitious action to achieve our shared climate goals.

Within five years of the date of this Declaration, Canada, Chile, Mexico and New Zealand, as current ITAG and CPTPP Members, will each review the effectiveness of the CPTPP with respect to the inclusive and sustainable elements of the Agreement. Members may wish to consider integrating those results into feedback for the CPTPP General Review as required in Article 27 of the Agreement, if appropriate. Each member may scope their effectiveness review according to their needs. This review will be conducted with involvement of women in all their diversity, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, MSMEs and other interested groups, as appropriate.

Members who may accede to the CPTPP after the date of this Declaration may decide to conduct such a review within this five-year period, if practicable.

Such reviews have been and will be useful to:

• Build datasets and approaches to better understand the role of CPTPP in supporting inclusive economic growth and to inform future reviews;
• Provide preliminary indications of the extent to which CPTPP has supported outcomes for women in all their diversity, MSMEs and Indigenous Peoples in the first years after entry into force;
• Support a growing and shared commitment to ensure that the benefits of trade are more widely shared across the economy.

In the context of the CPTPP General Review, ITAG members will work together, with the aim of promoting inclusive and sustainable outcomes, with respect to:

• trade and gender;
• trade and Indigenous Peoples;
• trade and domestic regional economic development;
• trade and MSMEs;
• trade and labour;
• trade and responsible business conduct including supply chains transparency;
• trade and environment including climate change; and
• digital trade.

The ITAG Reviews can usefully inform and guide this work to ensure inclusive and sustainable elements could be used as inputs to inform trade policy going forward to keep pace with modern and emerging issues.

Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and New Zealand invite other economies to join our work in advancing inclusive and sustainable trade.