Tariffs and other trade barriers are shutting New Zealand out of new markets for fruit and vegetable exports and hampering expansion in existing markets, horticulturalists say.
Tariffs lowered the prices that exporters were able to recover from importers and consumers overseas, said Horticulture Exports Authority chairman Bruce Koller.
"Market development that involves
negotiating access with minimal trade barriers is therefore key to future success," he said.
The industry has released its first comprehensive survey of the trade barriers it faces in 12 of its most important overseas markets, and has presented a copy of its report to Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton.
It noted high import tariffs made it hard to compete with rivals such as Chile, which has won free trade agreements with Canada, the United States, Mexico and the European Union.
Other barriers facing produce include:
* Avocados: New Zealand was the only exporter paying a tariff of US11.2c/kg (18.97c) on this fruit at the United States border. In contrast, Mexican avocados are duty-free under Nafta (the North American Free Trade Agreement), and Chile now has a 79,000-tonne tariff-free quota under the USA-Chile free trade agreement.
* Frozen vegetables: New Zealand exports $250 million worth of frozen vegetables annually but in Japan has to pay more than $2.5 million a year in tariffs on frozen sweet corn alone. Prohibitive tariffs keep New Zealand frozen vegetables out of the US and the European Union.
* Kiwifruit: Japan charges a tariff of 6.4 per cent on kiwifruit, costing Zespri more than $11 million on its $170 million annual sales there.
* Apples: Taiwan takes more than $3.5 million a year from $17 million imports with a 20 per cent tariff. Apples also have to go through a pre-clearance programme to check for codling moth.
* South Korea charges tariffs of 27.9 per cent on squash, 30 per cent on avocados, 49.3 per cent on kiwifruit, 50 per cent on persimmons and 46.5 per cent on cherries. It imposes government purchasing systems on some products such as citrus which also impedes access.
* Thailand set tariffs of more than 40 per cent for carrots.
- NZPA
