Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The new Free- Trade Agreement between the EU and New Zealand, which entered into force on May 1st, is good news for the EU and for Ireland. The Agreement has been described as the most modern Free Trade Agreement text the EU has agreed to date, it includes unprecedented sustainability commitments, including respect of the Paris Climate Agreement and core labour rights in addition to provisions on gender equality.

The agreement sees the elimination of all tariffs on EU exports to New Zealand and the opening of the New Zealand services market in key sectors such as financial services and telecommunications. This Agreement reflects the joint ambition to offer new market opportunities to businesses and farmers on both sides, while reinforcing a joint commitment to sustainable trade. Irish food and drink producers will have unfettered access to the New Zealand market with no tariffs, and the special status of Irish products such as Irish Whiskey and Irish Cream liqueur is included in the Agreement.

Bilateral trade in goods between the European Union and New Zealand has risen steadily in recent years, reaching almost €9.1 bn in 2022. The EU is New Zealand's third-biggest trade partner. Goods and services exports from Ireland to New Zealand in 2022 reached a value of over €1 billion.

According to an impact assessment carried out on the FTA by the EU, trade between New Zealand and the EU is expected to grow by 30%, and the removal of tariffs alone saving businesses around €140 million in duties each year.

EU farmers will benefit from the elimination of tariffs on key EU exports such as pig meat, wine and sparkling wine, chocolate, sugar confectionary and biscuits. Meanwhile, sensitive EU agricultural products are protected with carefully designed tariff rate quotas.

It is vital that the EU continues to build on existing strong relationships with like-minded nations like New Zealand while ensuring sustainability is a central focus, and this agreement does just that.

This Free Trade agreement creates significant economic opportunities for Irish companies and farmers, with Enterprise Ireland making an early start on realising these opportunities with an Agritec, FDI food focused Mission to Fieldays, New Zealand’s annual National Agricultural show in June.