In EU-New Zealand free trade agreement, recognition of wine Do’s

The free trade agreement signed in recent days by the European Union and New Zealand has not made as much noise as other trade pacts between major economies of the world, and the reason is quite simple: the oceanic country is worth only 0.2% of the exports and imports of the 27 countries of the European Union. Looking at the wine sector, in 2021 New Zealand’s Italian wine imports came to 11.6 million euros, while exports to Italy barely amounted to 187,000 euros. Volumes little more than marginal, on which duties will be totally zeroed, as for any other product exported to Wellington.

But the positive aspect of this free trade agreement, staying in the wine sphere, is another: the recognition of all 2,000 wines and spirits produced in the EU, from Champagne to Prosecco, as well as 163 food excellences, from Asiago to Feta. In addition, the EU-NZ agreement, paves the way for another important innovation, strongly desired by the EU Commission and announced with the “Trade Agreement for Green and Just Growth” strategy, namely the binding of trade agreements to strict environmental as well as social standards, in compliance with the Paris Climate Agreements and fundamental labor rights, under penalty of trade sanctions. There is, in addition, a chapter on sustainable food systems, an article on trade and gender equality, and a section on reforming fossil fuel subsidies.