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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.”
Zespri, in collaboration with ANL/CMA CGM, has initiated a feasibility study to investigate the potential for a low-emissions shipping corridor from Tauranga to Zeebrugge, Belgium, through the Panama Canal.
An initiative that supports networking and career progression of women in horticulture has received state funding.
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.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is expanding a scholarship programme for tertiary students as part of its efforts to boost on-the-ground support for farmers and growers.
Berry supplier The Fresh Berry Company has rolled out a locally developed forecasting platform that will allow its growers to precisely plan planting and harvest times, to ensure fruit hits store shelves when consumers most want it.
WorkSafe is recommending the dairy industry reassess its use of slide pulsators, following a recent death in a Waikato milking shed.
The 63rd National Holstein Friesian Bull sale this week (September 18) will mark 54 consecutive years that retiring Kerepehi breeder Michael Lynch has entered and sold his bulls at the event.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients has launched SimplyFert, an ex-hub and therefore lower-cost offering said to give its shareholders choice and flexibility for purchasing nutrients.
Chloe Jones wears three hats and it's this trifecta that makes her tick.
LIC is embarking on a ground-breaking project aimed at breeding heat tolerant and disease resistant dairy cows for Sub-Saharan Africa, in collaboration with the global leader in precision breeding, Acceligen, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
A critically threatened endemic freshwater fish found only in Canterbury has been discovered at a Craigmore Sustainables farm near Timaru.
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