Zespri global sales top $5 billion for 2024–25 season amid strong demand
Zespri says global sales for the 2024-25 season topped $5 billion on the back of strong demand and market returns.
The fallout from a golf match out in the west of Ireland could have negative repercussions on the outcome of New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union.
EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan, the overall head of EU trade negotiations, was recently forced to resign from his role for breaching Ireland’s strict coronavirus lockdown rules.
Hogan flew home to Dublin from Brussels to join a group of Irish politicians and officials at a special golf match and dinner in the town of Clifden in Co Galway. When he arrived in Ireland, Hogan tested negative for Covid-19, but didn’t self-isolate for 14 days as required, and went on to Clifden. Hogan’s actions were widely condemned in Ireland and in Europe and he subsequently resigned.
According to NZ trade commentator Mike Petersen, Hogan’s demise could have a negative impact on our FTA negotiations with the EU. Petersen says having Phil Hogan as Trade Commissioner was helpful in that Ireland and NZ are very similar and understand the value of exporting, even though Ireland may not always agree with some negotiating points put up in the FTA negotiations.
Hogan visited NZ just over a year ago and knows what NZ agriculture is about and has good relationships with our people. Now the search is on for a new commissioner to replace Hogan.
“The risk is that potentially having a non-Irishman going into the role of Trade Commissioner could make it tougher for us,” Petersen told Rural News. “There are a lot of countries in the EU who are far less supportive of free trade than Ireland and there is a chance that someone who holds very protectionist views could get the position.”
Under EU rules, every member state has the right to have a commissioner and the President of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen, has now asked Ireland to nominate two people – a man and woman and she will make the final choice. Petersen says there is no guarantee that Ireland would get the prestigious Trade Commissioner role and that von der Leyen may take the opportunity to have a complete reshuffle of the portfolios of all the commissioners.
Ireland is now going through the process of nominating their two people, and one of names being talked up is 48 year-old Simon Coveney, the present Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“I know him and have met him in Ireland a number of times. He’s a first class guy and he’s been to NZ and knows what NZ is about,” Petersen told Rural News. “If he were the guy chosen as Trade Commissioner that would be one of the best outcomes for us. But the big question is whether von der Leyen would put him straight into trade because it is quite a complex portfolio.”
Fieldays 2025 opens this week with organisers saying the theme, 'Your Place', highlights the impact the event has on agriculture both in the Southern Hemisphere and across the globe.
Sam Carter, assistant manager for T&G's Pakowhai Sector, has been named the Hawke's Bay 2025 Young Grower of the Year.
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
OPINION: The Greens aren’t serious people when it comes to the economy, so let’s not spend too much on their…
OPINION: PM Chris Luxon is getting pinged lately for rolling out the old 'we're still a new government' line when…