NZ-Gulf Cooperation Council free trade agreement overview

New Zealand’s free trade agreement negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council concluded on 31 October 2024.

When this Agreement enters into force, New Zealand will join a small number of countries - and will be the first major agriculture exporter - with preferential access into the GCC market, the ninth largest economy in the world.

The GCC economies - Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain – are our seventh largest export market. New Zealand’s exports to the GCC were worth $2.6 billion in the year to June 2024, and included dairy, industrial products, meat, horticulture and travel and tourism services. 

Preferential access to this market offers significant opportunities for export growth and diversification for New Zealand companies, and supports the Government’s ambitious goal of doubling the value of exports in 10 years.

Key outcomes include:

• Further expansion of New Zealand’s free trade agreement network into the Middle East, providing new opportunities and reducing costs for traders seeking to access this dynamic and growing market.
• Tariffs will be eliminated on 99% of New Zealand’s exports over ten years. Removing duties on New Zealand products will benefit New Zealand’s key exports, including dairy, red meat, horticulture and industrial products. Together with the UAE trade agreement, the GCC FTA will remove tariffs on 50.8% of our trade into the Gulf region on day one. 
• The Agreement contains a number of trade facilitating chapters and provisions that will enhance New Zealand’s ability to address Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), which have grown in significance for our exporters to the GCC and globally. This includes new avenues for engagement between agencies and regulators to resolve these regulatory barriers, such as the Sub-Committee on Trade in Food Products, which is mandated to consider halal standards.
• The NZ-GCC FTA includes new Trade in Services commitments which will provide transparency and greater certainty for New Zealand services exporters seeking to enter the region. Services are one of the fastest growing parts of our economy, and these rules will help ensure a level playing field for our services providers when operating in the GCC market.  
• Movement of Natural Persons commitments will give our companies operating in the GCC access to a range of visa commitments, ensuring they are able to send their personnel to manage and run their operations. 
• The agreement also includes chapters and provisions on intellectual property, transparency and trade and sustainable development (including labour standards, climate, and women’s economic empowerment). As with our other trade agreements, the Treaty of Waitangi exception is included.
• The General Collaboration and Sustainable Development chapter promotes sustainable development policies and outcomes, recognising the importance of using labour and environment laws for legitimate purposes, effectively enforcing these laws, and not weakening them to encourage trade and investment. 
• The General Collaboration and Sustainable Development chapter affirms International Labour Organisation’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and facilitates cooperation on matters relating to labour, including compliance and enforcement mechanisms for labour rights. It also recognises the importance of women’s economic empowerment.  It includes commitments to fostering women’s entrepreneurship, exchanging best practice related to policies and programmes and, in the case of New Zealand, providing opportunities for Wāhine Māori to engage in trade activities
• The NZ-GCC FTA complements the comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE, which is a member of the GCC.

Read the media statement: New Zealand concludes trade agreement with the GCC.

See the Overview of NZ-GCC FTA chapters and Key Benefits.