Seafood industry welcomes trade policy refresh

Friday, 24 March 2017, 10:03 am
Press Release: Seafood New Zealand

March 24, 2017

Seafood industry welcomes trade policy refresh

The seafood industry has welcomed the government’s launch of its refreshed trade policy strategy.

Prime Minister Bill English launched ‘Trade Agenda 2030’ this morning.

Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive, Tim Pankhurst said export trade was extremely important to the seafood industry, with exports for 2016 sitting at $1.8 billion across a diverse range of products and markets.

“We appreciate the work the government has been doing in securing free trade agreements (FTAs) with our trading partners and the target to have 90 percent of New Zealand exports covered by FTAs by 2030 is worthy.

“We also applaud the recognition by government that, as tariffs reduce through FTAs, other barriers to trade are emerging.

“That there is significant work to be undertaken on non-trade barriers (NTBs) is to be congratulated,” said Pankhurst.

“This cross-agency collaboration and coordination is critically important and the 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.

“In an increasingly protectionist world we welcome all efforts to ease barriers to trade, which is so critical for our small nation’s prosperity,” said Pankhurst.

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