The European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg has approved the trade deal agreed between the EU and New Zealand by a huge majority, with 524 votes for the agreement, 85 against and 21 abstentions.

The deal was agreed in June 2022, having been in negotiation since June 2018.

It now requires approval by member states, which could come at next week's European Council meeting.

If it is ratified by the New Zealand parliament, it is likely to come into operation from the middle of next year.

Impact on farmers

The biggest impact on Irish farmers will come from increased tariff quotas for New Zealand dairy and beef exports to EU markets.

There is also enhanced access for sheepmeat, but as New Zealand hasn’t used its existing 128,000t sheepmeat quota for several years, the impact of additional access will be minimal for the foreseeable future.

Quotas

New Zealand will get a 15,000t quota for milk powders, with a 20% duty and this will be phased in over seven years.

It already has a 47,177t butter quota at a preferential 38% tariff – there will be a phased reduction to 5% tariff for 21,000t of this quota and a new 15,000t quota will also have a progressively reduced quota.

There will be a 25,000t cheese quota phased in over seven years at zero tariff and the existing 6,031t quota with a €170.60/t tariff will also be reduced to zero, with high-protein whey getting a 3,500t quota, again phased in over seven years.

For beef, New Zealand will get a 10,000t quota at a 7.5% tariff, phased in over seven years, while there will be an additional 38,000t quota-free sheepmeat allowance.