B+LNZ: Recognition for wool in trade agreement
The ACCTS covers trade deals between New Zealand and Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland, and is open for other countries to join. It will remove tariffs on many products that benefit sustainability and the environment, including wool.
B+LNZ’s International Trade Senior Manager, Frances Duignan, says B+LNZ supported New Zealand Government officials throughout negotiations, which started in 2019, and appreciates the effort of trade negotiators to secure this win.
"We advocated strongly for wool to be classified as an ‘environmental good’. It follows similar recognition in the recent UK FTA.
"While New Zealand doesn’t face any tariffs when exporting wool to the ACCTS countries, this classification does create a useful precedent when engaging with countries where we do face tariffs, such as India, the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
"We hope this classification will improve wider recognition of wool as a sustainable product. While B+LNZ’s levy-funded activity does not directly include wool, the market outlook for wool is important to sheep farmers so we welcome positive changes".
Other aspects of the ACCTS that may be of interest to farmers:
The ACCTS initiative complements other work under way internationally including in the WTO, APEC, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the OECD.
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