The European Union signed a free trade agreement with New Zealand that aims to increase its exports there by €4.5 billion a year, a first such deal to also include sustainability goals.
(Bloomberg) — The European Union signed a free trade agreement with New Zealand that aims to increase its exports there by €4.5 billion a year, a first such deal to also include sustainability goals.
The agreement will cut about €140 million ($153.5 million) a year in duties for the bloc’s companies, with the goal of boosting bilateral trade by 30% within a decade and investment to New Zealand by 80%, according to a joint statement on Sunday.
“It’s an ambitious and very well-balanced free trade agreement,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels. “It provides plenty of opportunities for our respective businesses.”
The agreement is part of the bloc’s strategy to develop trade relations with trusted partners, including Australia. “Good progress” is being made toward a deal with Canberra, with a new round of talks set for the coming week, according to Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis.
The New Zealand agreement will eliminate tariffs on EU exports such as pig meat, wine, chocolate and biscuits, and protect over 2,000 products, including Prosecco as well as Feta and Manchego cheeses. It will open up the market for sectors in financial services, telecommunications, maritime transport and delivery services.
The agreement will also be the first to commit to the Paris Climate Agreement and include chapters on sustainable food, gender equality and fossil fuel subsidies reform, according to the statement.
The EU in turn will grant tariff-free access for key New Zealand products including wine, apples, onions and honey, generating tariff savings on 91% of the country’s current exports to the EU.
“Of course we didn’t get everything that we wished for but we got a substantive amount of what we need,” New Zealand’s Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor said in Brussels. “We made significant progress even in those sensitive areas of sheep meat, beef and dairy.”
The agreement will need to be ratified by the parliaments of the EU and New Zealand, which Dombrovskis said he expects to happen in a “reasonably short time.”
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