April 5, 2017
New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English has launched "Trade Agenda 2030", which also covers the seafood sector, which immediately welcomed it as a "refreshed trade policy strategy".
Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive Tim Pankhurst said they appreciated the work the government "has been doing in securing free trade agreements with our trading partners and the target [it has set] to have 90 percent of New Zealand exports covered by FTAs by 2030…."
Pankhurst said export trade was extremely important to the seafood industry, with exports for 2016 hitting NZ$1.8 billion (US$1.26 billion) across a diverse range of products and markets.
Pankhurt also lauded the fact that the government has acknowledged that as tariffs reduce through FTAs, other barriers to trade are emerging, as well as recognised that there is significant work to be undertaken on non-trade barriers (NTBs).
"…[T]he seafood industry looks forward to being actively involved in discussions on NTBs through its membership on the newly formed Ministerial Advisory Group and through the relevant agencies", he said.
"In an increasingly protectionist world we welcome all efforts to ease barriers to trade, which is so critical for our small nation's prosperity", Pankhurst concluded.