There are high expectations that the trade deal between UK and New Zealand will boost apple exports as half of Britain’s favorite apple crops were wiped out by freezing April weather.
Almost half the crop of the UK’s two favorite homegrown apples have been wiped out by the poor spring weather. Cox’s and Bramley have suffered due to frost after overnight temperatures in April often dropped below zero.
According to trade organisation British Apples and Pears, the harvest is likely to be down by around 10 per cent across the range of UK-grown varieties. Chairman Ali Capper, says the loss was ‘disappointing’, especially because growers had planted extra crops this year to boost the market share for homegrown apples.
UK Daily Mail quoted her as saying: “Cox’s and Bramley are worst affected because they are early flowering varieties which flower in April and that is when we had 20 nights below minus 2C. The frost killed the flowers and reduced the yield.”
Capper said the loss was ‘disappointing’, especially because growers had planted extra crops this year to boost the market share for homegrown apples Despite the disappointing harvest, other varieties have managed to do well, including Gala, Jazz, Cameo and Kanzi, because they are not as susceptible to cold weather.
A trade deal with New Zealand might be quite beneficial for exporters as both countries ditch tariffs as high as 10% on a range of products. The latest round of trade talks between both sides ended last month with good progress made towards a final deal.
Under a new deal, many UK goods will no longer be subject to import tariffs when entering the New Zealand market, and exporters would gain an advantage over international rivals in the New Zealand import market, which is expected to grow by 30% by 2030.
Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, told Business News Wales, “we are working round the clock to get this deal done in the coming weeks. We are both big fans of each other’s high-quality products, so this could be a huge boost that allows British shoppers to enjoy lower prices and British exports to be even more competitive. New Zealand and the UK are natural partners united by modern values. An agreement would reflect those ideals and is a win-win for both countries.”
“It would also be an important step towards our accession to CPTPP, helping the UK gain access to 11 of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economies across the Pacific region and opening doors to dynamic markets across the world.”
Popular New Zealand products which could potentially be made cheaper under a UK-New include apples and Manuka honey. We imported over £42m of apples from New Zealand in 2020 and over £32m of honey even though they currently face tariffs of 8% and 16% respectively. These are set to be eliminated as part of the agreement.
Trade between the two countries was worth £2.3 billion last year and would be expected to increase following a deal. New Zealand is a leading member of CPTPP, a free trade area worth around £9 trillion and is supporting the UK’s bid to join.
