NZ-EU free-trade agreement secured

New Zealand has secured a freetrade agreement with the European Union, estimated to be worth $1.8 billion annually when it’s fully implemented.

The agreement will remove 91% of duties on New Zealand products as soon as the deal is actioned, and the removal of many tariffs will save exporters an estimated $100 million.

Negotiations for the deal ran to the very last moment, with the EU and New Zealand agreeing only a few hours before Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrived at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, to either sign an agreement or confirm she was leaving without one.

Those inside the negotiations described them as ‘‘intense’’, confirming that the talks continued through the night and into Thursday morning local time.

Ardern, Trade Minister Damien O’Connor and European Commission executive vice-president

Valdis Dombrovskis all confirmed that agriculture had been ‘‘sensitive’’, and a sticking point in the negotiations.

New Zealand had been unhappy about the limited access for dairy and beef in previous EU offers.

Some EU states were concerned about the environmental credentials of New Zealand agriculture, and also that areas New Zealand excelled in such as dairy and beef would go head-to-head with local farmers.

The deal will increase New Zealand dairy and red meat exporters’ access to the European Union.

However, shortly after Ardern and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen confirmed a deal was struck on Thursday afternoon, the Meat Industry Association said it was ‘‘disappointing’’ as it only lifted the red-meat quota to 10,000 tonnes.

Geographic indicators, which stop New Zealand businesses from using certain names, were clawed back from previous offers.

But notably, New Zealand cheesemakers will not be able to use the label ‘‘feta’’ – which is seen as culturally important to Greece – in nine years.

On Wednesday, the day before the deal was signed, Ardern said she was willing to leave Europe without a free-trade agreement.

The prime minister arrived in Brussels on Wednesday night, planning to stay for a single day – while O’Connor had been in the city since the start of the week.

She said O’Connor had been briefing her multiple times a day on the negotiations in Brussels, so she could push European leaders at Nato to agree to the deal.

Insiders from both sides said agreement was reached only through negotiation between the political leaders, with officials at an impasse.

Ardern said she was ‘‘absolutely serious’’ about leaving without a deal, and said her 22 hours in Brussels were essential to ‘‘keeping the pressure on’’.

‘‘Continuing to push all the way through made a tangible difference, but today we leave with $1.8 billion that we otherwise wouldn’t have,’’ she said.

Negotiations for the free-trade deal have been ongoing for four years.

New Zealand cheesemakers will eventually have to stop using the label ‘feta’.