Tuesday, 10 September 2024 11:55

No more tears for onion exporters

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Assistant Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg. Assistant Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.

Onion exports to the lucrative Indonesian market are resuming after officials negotiated an end to costly pre-export methyl bromide fumigation.

In December 2023, Indonesian officials started to strictly enforce a regulation requiring mandatory preexport methyl bromide fumigation, effectively stopping exports. In 2023, onion exports to Indonesia were valued at $45 million.

Assistant Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg told the recent Hort NZ Conference the regulation cost the industry about $5 million a week at one point.

Grigg acknowledged the “work of our world-class Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) officials”.

“MPI and MFAT worked hard to resolve this matter and, last month, New Zealand and Indonesia agreed for onion exports to occur without fumigation.

“Onions New Zealand predicts that ten to twelve thousand tonnes of this season’s onions will be exported to Indonesia under the new conditions in 2024, worth around $5 million.”

Grigg says while working on new markets, the Government has a big workstream on now to dismantle non-tariff barriers (NTBs) with existing trading partners wherever possible.

“That is why our trade ministers, myself included, are on planes and offshore putting New Zealand back on the global stage and negotiating, and re-negotiating existing settings,” she says.

Grigg challenged the hort sector to take advantage of the comprehensive suite of trade deals New Zealand has secured across the globe.

She notes that there are significant growth opportunities in emerging regions such as South East Asia. Horticultural exports to South East Asia made up roughly 10% of total hort exports last year.

Grigg emphasised the need for building relationships in export markets.

She noted that horticulture export revenue is expected to reach a record $7.1 billion in the year to 30 June 2024 and is rapidly heading towards $8 billion.

“This is an impressive result, especially considering the monumental curveballs that have been thrown your way in recent years.

“The Government is committed to backing your sector’s success, and we stand ready to do our part to enable horticulture to grow – but a lot of that success will come down to the leadership and the actions you choose to take to implement your vision.”

More like this

Dairy, hort lead bounce back

The latest Ministry for Primary Industries report on the state of the primary sector shows that things are starting to look up after a rough 2023-24 season.

Helping develop, grow markets

While NZ Avocado is not directly involved in selling fruit, it does have a significant role in supporting exporters to develop and grow markets.

Avocados bounce back!

After two challenging years, the country’s avocado growers are quietly optimistic that a good year is in the making.

Featured

Rein 'Deere' spreads Christmas cheer

The Brandt Hastings team, joined by Rudolph the Red-Nose Rein ‘Deere’, spread holiday cheer this week at the Hawke’s Bay Hospital children’s ward.

National

Machinery & Products

GEA launches robotic milkers

Milking technology provider GEA Farm Technologies is introducing its first automatic milking system (AMS) in New Zealand.

More front hoppers

German seeding specialists Horsch have announced a new 1600- litre double-tank option that will join its current Partner FT single…

Origin Ag clocks up 20 years

With roots dating back to 2004, Origin Ag was formed as a co-operative business model that removed the traditional distributor,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Dark ages

OPINION: Before we all let The Green Party have at it with their 'bold' emissions reduction plan, the Hound thought…

Rhymes with?

OPINION: The Feds' latest banking survey shows that bankers are even less popular with farmers than they used to be,…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter