Smart planning to maximise the EU tariff removal

On 1 May 2024, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between New Zealand and the European Union (EU) came into effect. For New Zealand onion growers, this meant that the 9.6% tariff on onion exports was removed. A saving for our growers of around $3 million each year.

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With approximately 85% of our onions being exported each year, our key export markets are Europe and Southeast Asia, making this tariff removal an important financial windfall for this export season.

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The New Zealand Government approved the FTA change earlier than expected, allowing Onions New Zealand Inc to obtain the maximum benefit from the decision. We were able to work with EU customs facilities to:

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• Keep as many delivered New Zealand onions held back in customs facilities so that more onion orders could take advantage of the tariff-free regime from 1 May onwards.
• Onions NZ Chief Executive, James Kuperus believes that up to 35,000 of New Zealand grown onions will be able to enter the EU duty-free in 2024.

“We’re very grateful to the NZ Parliament for approving the FTA earlier than expected, allowing it to come into force when it did. Once we knew that, we were able to plan to gain the maximum benefit from this decision,” James Kuperus, Onions NZ Chief Executive.

This year’s New Zealand onion harvest has been a success all round this year. Good growing conditions, great onion quality and increasing product demand has enabled a longer export season.

Building on the exceptional quality of this year’s onion harvest, we are likely to see a much longer export season, particularly to Southeast Asia.

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Read more in the recent Rural News Group article.

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