New Zealand - FTA with Hong Kong signed
Stuff | 23 Nov 2009
New Zealand - FTA with Hong Kong signed
New Zealand (NZ) and Hong Kong have signed a free trade agreement (FTA) on the back of recently concluded trade talks.
Although Hong Kong’s status as an open port meant that zero tariffs applied to any imported goods – agricultural or otherwise, the benefit of the agreement is said to lie in the fact that it guarantees the security of access to the market for NZ. It also complements the NZ-China FTA concluded a year ago, and may help to speed up the process of tariff’s being phased out in that market (Meat & Wool New Zealand).
In 2008, NZ exported 4,945 tonnes of lamb, 4,477 tonnes of beef and veal and 328 tonnes of mutton to Hong Kong. Over the same period, Australia exported 4,323 tonnes of lamb, 3,230 tonnes of beef & 1,122 tonnes of mutton respectively, with a combined value of A$53.2 million (Global Trade Atlas).
