New Zealand won’t engage Myanmar in largest free trade bloc

By GRANT PECK and JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — New Zealand says it will not deal with Myanmar under a major 15-nation trade agreement, the world’s largest that took effect this year, citing the deadly violence and democratic setbacks in the Southeast Asian country after the military seized power. Two diplomats told The Associated Press that New Zealand has notified other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that it would not recognize Myanmar’s “instrument of ratification,” the key document binding a country to the free trade pact. The bloc includes China but not the U.S. New Zealand was among Western nations that quickly opposed the army takeover. The decision comes as Southeast Asian foreign ministers are meeting in Cambodia without Myanmar’s representative.