The Government has released the text for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement which was renamed last year but largely remained the same.
As this newspaper has said before, and stands by again, trade is the lifeblood of New Zealand and threats to derail the TPP before last year's election were uncalled for.
Early reports from the now-named Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership look promising for New Zealand.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says the economy will grow by as much as $4 billion because of the deal, due to be signed soon.
The deal will remain controversial, particularly in New Zealand, where opponents of the earlier TPP, proposed by the former National government, continue to agitate against the latest agreement.
The ministry is at pains to point to the significant differences between the two deals, particularly in the areas of controversy.
Eleven countries, with the exception of the United States, have agreed to the deal. Major trading countries such as Canada, Japan, Chile, Australia and Singapore are included.
The ministry estimates the deal may add up to 1% to the value of New Zealand's economy, a welcome boost for a trading-based country at a time when significant economic changes are being made by central banks.
New Zealand is a country where 620,000 jobs are dependent on exports.
America, led by United States President Donald Trump, is taking an insular approach to trade, aiming to protect US jobs from disappearing overseas to low-cost manufacturing countries.
For New Zealand, the ratification of the deal is something to be celebrated. The dairy industry alone is expected to save nearly $86 million in tariffs and the country's exporters will save about $200 million in reduced tariffs to just Japan once reductions are fully implemented.
Beef exporters may finally find themselves on equal terms with Australian producers, who have enjoyed better access to the high-paying Japanese market for decades.
Trade and Export Minister David Parker says the Government and its trade negotiators contributed to changes which meant the new agreement is a major improvement for New Zealanders over the previous TPP. The changes include the suspension of 22 items from before.
Prior expansive changes to New Zealand's intellectual property laws and the medicine-buying agency Pharmac no longer apply. The suspensions also narrow the scope of the investor-state dispute settlement in the new agreement, an area of earlier concern for Mr Parker.
The new agreement includes commitment to safeguard and enforce labour and environmental standards and it upholds the Treaty of Waitangi.
And, Mr Parker says, it has found a way to ban foreign buyers of existing homes; a key policy of the Jacinda Ardern Government.
The Government, it is accepted, will be placing the new agreement in the best possible light. But, so far, the changes seem very welcome in protecting the identity of New Zealand.
It may be too late for protesters to change much in the agreement, but meetings are still being held around the country trying to change the opinion of more New Zealanders.
The Government will need National to bring in the necessary legislation because Labour's coalition partners have some reservations about the wide-ranging trade agreement. The Opposition needs to step up and accept it failed at the first attempt when it was in government.
A powerful trade bloc, in which New Zealand can play such a key role, is a long-held dream for the country's exporters. There is a new chance now to progress the traditional trade of New Zealand but also the exciting new technology advances being developed.
