ExportNZ welcomes Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern’s announcement today that she will be leading a trade mission to Australia in July and that Trade Minister Damien O’Connor will be heading to the UK and Brussels in June to pursue the FTA negotiations with the EU and the UK.

Executive Director of ExportNZ, Catherine Beard said exporters will be very keen to get back into international travel as soon as they can and Australia is a good start.

Ms Beard says there have also been increasing calls from exporters to allow those that have critical outbound travel (e.g. technical installation of complex machinery for an overseas customer) to get an early vaccine, now that most of the critical workers have been vaccinated. "There is a niche group of exporters that have to send staff overseas and they are wanting to protect them as much as they can, so we are asking the Government for some prioritisation for these exporters".

Catherine Beard says feedback from exporters for the additional support they have been getting from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is very positive and they are grateful.

ExportNZ also urges Minister O’Connor to negotiate hard for a high-quality free trade agreement with both the UK and the EU, which should include tariff elimination on goods exports and a reduction of non-tariff barriers. "As all our economies seek to recover from a global pandemic, fair and free trade will be a big part of the solution if we do it well.

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