On March 23, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key observed the formal signing of the free trade agreement between their two countries. Conclusion of FTA negotiations between Korea and New Zealand was announced in November 2014. More details on the agreement are available from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.

Under the FTA, Korea’s tariffs on New Zealand beef (currently 40 percent) are eliminated over 15 years, but with a product-specific safeguard. New Zealand beef will be on the same track as Canadian beef, with a tariff of 37.3 percent upon implementation, and a safeguard of 37,000 mt for the first year. The duty rate for U.S. beef entering Korea is 29.3 percent this year, and the rate for Australian beef is 34.6 percent.

Last year New Zealand was Korea’s third-largest beef supplier, but its 8.5 percent market share ranked a distant third behind Australia (55 percent) and the United States (35 percent). New Zealand reported 2014 beef/beef variety meat exports to Korea of 28,926 mt valued at $127.7 million, making Korea its fourth-largest export market (behind the U.S., China and Japan).

Tariffs on New Zealand lamb and sheep meat (currently 22.5 percent) are eliminated over 10 years under the FTA.

Data source: Global Trade Atlas