By Fiona Acheson, head of food, beverage, and consumer goods at NZTE
New Zealand and the European Union (EU) concluded negotiations on a major free trade agreement (FTA) on June 30, 2022 and although the agreement won’t come into force until 2024 at the earliest, it is expected to add an additional $1.8 billion to the New Zealand economy.
The EU is New Zealand’s fourth largest trading partner, with two-way trade in goods and services worth $17.5 billion in 2021. When the NZ-EU FTA comes into force, it will provide duty-free access on 97% of New Zealand’s existing goods trade to the EU with specific goods outcomes for kiwifruit, onions, fish, seafood, wine, honey, dairy and meat.
With close to 450 million consumers there’s no denying that the EU is one of our most important markets – and with FTA negotiations concluded there’s never been a better time to research, learn, test and validate what you offer. Most markets in Europe don’t have a strong awareness of New Zealand products – below are some considerations:
- Look at what EU consumers are buying and what EU consumers care about. Read our advice on grocery retail in Spain, France, Sweden, Italy, Germany as well as insights into honey in Europe and wine in France.
- Sustainability isn’t a ‘nice to have’ in the EU. EU regulations and policies aim to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. This is not a future consideration: the landscape has shifted, and exporters to the EU need to adapt and position for opportunity now. Read about the Europe Green Deal and how to show European buyers your products are sustainable.
- Understand geographical indicators (GIs), New Zealand and the EU have agreed to protect a list of the other’s geographical indicators under the FTA. New Zealand producers will need to stop using terms like “sherry”, “port” and “feta” on their products.
- For mānuka honey exporters, the FTA includes a definition for ‘mānuka’ as the Māori word used exclusively for the Leptospermum scoparium tree grown in Aotearoa New Zealand, and derivative products such as honey and oil. This is the time to build brand awareness of mānuka honey with EU consumers.
For more information on New Zealand’s major FTA with the UK, visit myNZTE
Fiona leads NZTE’s Food and Beverage Customers team. She has held roles as NZTE regional director for Greater China, NZTE investment director on the government’s cross-agency investment taskforce, and has also been trade commissioner in Guangzhou and for Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. She has also supported leveraging activities around New Zealand – China free trade agreement and led leveraging programmes around the ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand and Malaysia–New Zealand FTAs.
The information and opinions within this column are not necessarily the views or opinions of Hot Source, NZ Food Technology, or the parent company, Hayley Media.
