New Zealand honey exporters are among the biggest winners following news announced on October 20 that the New Zealand and United Kingdom Governments have reached, in principle, terms of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
While the final details of the agreement will likely take some months to hash out, the key outcomes and parameters of a new FTA have been agreed upon. They include removal of the current in-quota tariff rate of 16 percent on Kiwi honey entering the UK market, a change which will take effect immediately upon ratification of the agreement.
Ratification is expected to take place in the first half of 2022.
New Zealand honey is joined by wine and onions as produce that will drop tariffs immediately when the agreement comes in to force, with other major export industries such as dairy, beef and sheep meat all set to gain free access to UK markets, but over a longer timeline.
“The free trade deal will be a great outcome for our industry and will improve our competitiveness in one of our largest export markets,” says Karin Kos, chief executive of Apiculture New Zealand.
The United Kingdom consistently ranks as one of top three export markets for New Zealand honey, alongside China and the US, and is worth $70 million annually.
The deal has been met with widespread approval from New Zealand’s primary industries and ApiNZ’s response is no different.
“Apiculture New Zealand has been seeking the removal of these tariffs for some time and we extend our thanks to the government for persevering and progressing this on our industry’s behalf,” Kos says.
