WELLINGTON, Mar 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand and Britain signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) today, that unlocks unprecedented access to the British market and accelerates New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery, said New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.
“Virtually all our current trade will be duty-free from entry into force, including duty-free quotas for key products like meat, butter and cheese, helping to accelerate our economic recovery,” Ardern said in a statement.
The deal will boost New Zealand’s GDP by up to one billion NZ dollars (680 million U.S. dollars), supporting business and jobs, Ardern said.
This is New Zealand’s first bilateral trade agreement to include a specific article on climate change, and includes provisions towards eliminating environmentally harmful subsidies, such as harmful fossil fuel subsidies, and prohibiting fisheries subsidies, which lead to overfishing, she said.
The FTA was signed in London by New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Damien O’Connor and Britain’s Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
It’s estimated New Zealand goods exports to Britain will increase by more than 50 percent through the agreement, O’Connor said, adding, the agreement will enter into force by the end of 2022, after both partners have ratified the agreement through respective parliaments.
Britain was New Zealand’s seventh-largest trading partner pre-COVID, with two-way trade worth six billion NZ dollars (4.06 billion U.S. dollars) to Mar, 2020, he said.– NNN-AGENCIES
