Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New Zealand and New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office signed an organic food agreement Feb. 26, a move expected to boost agricultural exchanges and deepen economic ties between Taiwan and the southwestern Pacific country.
Under the new arrangement taking effect this May, each side will recognize the other’s organic certifications, greatly reducing the time and cost associated with verifying the status of imported products, director of Wellington TECO Chen Keh-ming said. It is the next step in the central government’s plan of intensifying trade relations with New Southbound Policy target countries, he added.
NZCIO director Moira Turley said the pact is a win-win situation for both markets, adding that Taiwan’s consumers will have more confidence in organic agricultural products imported from New Zealand and vice versa.
Statistics from the Ministry of Economics’ Bureau of Foreign Trade show that since the Agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation (ANZTEC) was signed in July 2013, bilateral trade has flourished. Taiwan imported US$910 million worth of goods from New Zealand in 2018, an increase of 18 percent compared to before the deal came into force.
ANZTEC has also boosted investment from New Zealand into Taiwan. From 2014 to 2018, inbound funding totaled about US$3 million, with the agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry, wholesale and retail, and information services industries receiving the greatest benefit. (TYT-E)
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