O’connor travelling toukfor talks

Trade Minister Damien O’connor will travel to the United Kingdom and Europe in June for free trade agreement negotiations.

O’connor will be the first Cabinet minister to travel overseas since New Zealand closed its borders due to Covid-19. He will be vaccinated for Covid-19 before leaving for London and Brussels, and will enter managed isolation for 14 days when he returns.

O’connor and his British counterpart, Trade Secretary Liz Truss, last week committed to ‘‘intensifying’’ negotiations for a New Zealand-uk Free Trade Agreement. A deal with the European Union has lumbered since negotiations began in 2018, and as of March there remained ‘‘significant differences’’ to overcome.

‘‘Virtual engagements are useful, but to make significant further progress in both negotiations before the European summer, I am visiting the capitals in person to reinforce New Zealand’s expectations and give these talks every chance of success,’’ O’connor said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, speaking to an audience at a Businessnz event yesterday afternoon, said a trip such as O’connor’s ‘‘may not have been overly notable pre-covid’’.

‘‘But they are hugely significant in light of the domestic realities we’ve been experiencing, and the global ones that still persist.’’

Ardern said she would lead a delegation to Australia in July, before leading delegations to Europe, the United States, China and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, when ‘‘we have greater movement between countries’’

O’connor said both the UK and EU deals were making good progress. He said he would be travelling as both trade and agriculture minister.

The UK began negotiating a deal with Australia on the same day as New Zealand in June 2020. After Truss met with Australian trade minister Dan Tehan in person last month, it appeared an Australia-uk Free Trade Agreement may be signed at the G7 summit next month.

O’connor has said he hoped to settle New Zealand’s deal in the ‘‘coming months’’. However, on Tuesday he was less certain of this aspiration.

‘‘If we can conclude by the end of the year, and have a substantive and worthwhile agreement, I think that’ll serve our purposes well,’’ he said.

A fourth round of talks with the UK closed this month, and the UK’S second goods market access offer – the tariffs and quotas the UK would apply to New Zealand’s products – didn’t land. Agricultural products remain a sticking point for New Zealand.

‘‘Beef, dairy and sheep meat are always the sensitive issues. And so we’ll continue to work to make sure we get the most worthwhile conclusion we can for farmers and for New Zealand,’’ O’connor said.

When Tehan visited the UK in April, stories from unnamed sources close to Truss began to appear. The Telegraph reported that Truss was heading into a ‘‘showdown’’ negotiation with Tehan, and was going to sit him in an ‘‘uncomfortable chair’’ to apply pressure.

When asked if New Zealand had faced any skulduggery in its negotiations with the UK, O’connor said, ‘‘It’s always tough, but it’s always clean’’.