New Zealand has secured a free trade agreement with the European Union. The deal is estimated to be worth $1.8 billion annually when it is fully implemented.
Once actioned, the agreement will remove 91% of the duties on New Zealand products and will save exporters an estimated $100 million in tariffs.
The deal has been four years in the making and negotiations ran to the very last moment, concluding in the early hours of Thursday morning. Insiders from both sides said that the agreement only became possible through negotiation between the political leaders, with officials reaching an impasse.
The agreement opens up the EU to exports of dairy, meat, seafood and kiwifruit from New Zealand.
In addition, the negotiators called this a “green deal”. Although the details are yet to be laid out, there is a mechanism for one party to take the other party to international arbitration if the policies are not consistent with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Speaking of the newly minted agreement, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said “It delivers tangible gains for exporters into a restrictive agricultural market. It cuts costs and red tape for exporters and opens up new high value market opportunities and increases our economic resilience through diversifying the markets that we can more freely export into.”
The EU is New Zealand’s fourth-largest trading partner with two-way goods and services trade worth $17.5 billion in 2021.
