EU opens FTA negotiations with New Zealand
Following Australia, New Zealand is the new partner to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with EU but this could take a little bit longer to implement.
2021 is the term that most of the analysts from New Zealand are giving for the signing of the EU-NZ Free Trade Agreement, according to 1News TV portal.
The EU is New Zealand's third largest trading partner with this country's main exports being lamb, wine, fruit and dairy.
David Parker, New Zealand's Trade Minister, mentioned that the European Union is home to more than 10 per cent of all of the country's exports. "Even excluding the United Kingdom two-way trade is about $16 billion per annum", declared Parker at the meeting with EU's Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.
Lamb is one of the New Zealand products that sell best in Europe and the country has preferential access to this market. In fact, New Zealand is so content with its position in the EU market that it didn't even pressure to deliver all of its quota of lamb and sheepmeat in the last few years.
According to a market snapshot presented by MLA, New Zealand quota of 228,254 tonnes was covered only by 62% in recent years. The EU represented 31% of NZ’s overall sheepmeat exports in 2017, with about half of this trade destined for the UK. The country's preferential trading conditions over the past 40 years have allowed it to capture the majority of the import market, accounting for 19% of the EU's sheepmeat market.
A backlash from European farmers is expected by New Zealand's Agricultural Trade Envoy Mike Petersen but the official is more concerned about the reactions regarding beef products than lamb.
"Well the sensitive areas will be focused around agriculture and this is typical for all the agreements that we're looking to put together. And certainly, I'm sure that we'll hear concerns from domestic farming groups around dairy and beef", explained Petersen. According to UE's Trade Commissioner Malmstrom, after the deal is signed, the trade in goods could increase by 50%. The following session of discussions will take place next month in Brussels.
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