Maureen Pugh, West Coast – Tasman MP. Photo: Supplied.
Maureen Pugh, West Coast – Tasman MP
The New Zealand–United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) officially came into force on the 28th of August. The UAE is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, so this trade deal opens up huge potential.
The NZ–UAE CEPA is New Zealand’s fastest-ever trade agreement having been negotiated in just over four months. It will deliver around $42 million in tariff savings per year for Kiwi exporters and the wider economy. 98.5% of New Zealand’s exports to the UAE will enter duty-free, rising to 99% by the start of 2027. This is one of the best goods market access packages we have ever secured.
Agriculture Minister Hon Todd McClay and his team have invested a huge amount of work and talks to secure this deal.
Key goods, such as dairy ($766m), red meat ($52.5m), apples ($34.9m), kiwifruit ($7.8m), seafood ($15.5m), forestry products ($9.4m), and honey ($5.2m) have all entered duty free from the 28th August.
The latest Federated Farmers Confidence Survey shows a remarkable shift in sentiment, with confidence lifting from -66% when the Government took office in 2023 to +33% this July. This result reflects the hard work of 360,000 rural New Zealanders and a Government focused on backing the sector with smart and practical policies. The survey highlights major improvements across key indicators including: Profitability - at its highest level ever recorded, with two-thirds of farmers reporting they are making a profit.
Productivity - with a net 23% of farmers forecasting increased production over the next 12 months. Mental health - pressures have eased significantly, with fewer farmers reporting stress compared to last year. Although there is still some way to go the corner has been turned across all aspects of the rural sector.
With airlines still struggling to recover their pre-covid passenger levels it became clear that some intervention was needed to ensure small passenger airlines were not lost to regional New Zealand. $30m has been made available for concessionary loans to support regional routes in the short to medium future. This is important to ensure that aviation connectivity is not lost. If lost, recovery would be very costly and difficult. A digital upgrade is also funded allowing passengers to book a single itinerary across different airlines. This is known as “interlining” and will streamline bookings and baggage handling from smaller centres.
All the best to our farmers for lambing and calving as we head into spring.
