Why do we need these instruments?
New Zealand has been working hard to find practical solutions in relation to EU and UK WTO quotas, following the UK’s departure from the EU.
With negotiations starting in October 2018 we have now been able to formally sign an agreement with the EU and an arrangement with the UK outlining a set of steps the EU and UK intend to take to address New Zealand concerns. These steps include:
- adjustments to respective ‘shares’ of some of these TRQs including increased share of quotas for sheep meat and beef into the EU;
- some adjustments to quota conditions for cheddar (and butter for the EU), which previously had considerably more restrictive conditions than the equivalent MFN quotas;
- For the EU: reduction of the in-quota tariff for the Most-Favoured Nation quota for frozen beef.
The “Agreement between the European Union and NEW ZEALAND pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union” was signed on 20 July 2022 by New Zealand’s Ambassador to the EU in Brussels.
The “Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of New Zealand” was signed in Geneva on 28 July by New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the WTO. Unlike the Agreement with the EU this is not a treaty level instrument but this difference has no effect in practice in applying the agreed outcomes.
Once further procedures are completed on all sides for the implementation of these instruments, the text for both will be made public on this page.
Officials are engaging with the EU and UK to determine an appropriate date for the implementation of the outcomes.