WELLINGTON: New Zealand and the United Kingdom signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Tuesday, giving New Zealand unparalleled access to the British market and speeding up the Covid-19 recovery, said to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand.

"From the date of entrance into force, virtually all of our present trade will be duty-free, including duty-free quotas for vital products like beef, butter, and cheese, assisting our economic recovery," Ardern said in a statement.

According to sources, the transaction will enhance New Zealand's GDP by up to $680 million, boosting business and jobs. This is New Zealand's first bilateral trade agreement to have a particular clause on climate change, she added, and it includes provisions aimed at eliminating ecologically detrimental subsidies including harmful fossil fuel subsidies and restricting fisheries subsidies that lead to overfishing.

Damien O'Connor, New Zealand's Minister for Trade and Export Growth, and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Britain's Secretary of State for International Trade, signed the FTA in London.

According to O'Connor, goods exports from New Zealand to the United Kingdom will increase by more than 50% as a result of the deal, which will go into effect by the end of 2022 once both partners' parliaments ratify it. He added that before Covid, Britain was New Zealand's seventh-largest commercial partner, with two-way commerce worth NZ$6 billion ($4.06 billion) until March 2020.

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