EU and New Zealand report progress in trade agreement negotiations

Negotiators reach provisional agreement on two more chapters of the future trade agreement

The European Commission reports that the ninth round of negotiations for an European Union (EU)-New Zealand trade agreement was held from November 23 to 30 by videoconference.

The round allowed for thorough discussions covering the majority of the areas of the future agreement. This round of negotiations resulted in a provisional agreement on two additional chapters: “Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)” and “Capital Movements”.

In previous rounds the negotiators had provisionally agreed on two other chapters – “Transparency” and “Customs and Trade Facilitation”, as well as on the text of the ‘Anti-Fraud clause’.

The EU’s Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis and New Zealand Minister for Trade Damien O’Connor are expected to take stock of the achieved progress before the end of the year.