NZ Exporters Wary as U.S.-Iran Trade Friction Escalates
LONDON (Dispatches) - New Zealand exporters are looking to worsening U.S.-Iran relations with trepidation as they seek to revitalize trade with the second largest economy in the Middle East.
Iran was once an important market for NZ sheep meat, featuring in the top five destinations for the country's red meat exports in the 1980s when it took about a quarter of the total lamb kill.
The meat industry welcomed the resumption of trade last year after a market access protocol between New Zealand and Iran was concluded.
While Iran is not an easy market to trade into, there has been some trade since 2017 and the market has the potential to grow, Sirma Karapeeva, trade & economic manager for the Meat Industry Association, said.
This year to date New Zealand exported over $1.1 million worth of lamb to Iran.
"The U.S. sanctions adds further complexity to an already complex market," Karapeeva said.
"Clearly the situation is sensitive and our advice to exporters would be to do their due diligence – to talk to their banks and shipping lines and to get legal advice before exporting to Iran," she said.
"We are all watching to see how the situation unfolds - including with regards to third country sanctions and the application of the U.S. "humanitarian goods" guidelines which cover food and agricultural exports," she said.
New Zealand special trade envoy Mike Petersen, who was a part of a delegation to Iran led by then Ministry for Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy last year, said worsening U.S.-Iran trade relations was "concerning".
At the time, Guy said: "This is a crucial step for New Zealand meat companies as they look to re-enter the Iranian market."
"The risk is that the U.S. does start to follow through and put pressure on companies that are doing business with Iran," Petersen said.
"All exporters at the moment are taking these threats seriously and are thinking about how they do business in that part of the world," he said.
Increased trade friction was not going to hurt New Zealand but there was a risk if world trade relations worsened.
Petersen said there was potential for further disruption to the world trade system if trade wars spread to other parts of the world.
Iran is the second biggest economy in the Middle East and the North Africa region.
Iran was once an important market for NZ sheep meat, featuring in the top five destinations for the country's red meat exports in the 1980s when it took about a quarter of the total lamb kill.
The meat industry welcomed the resumption of trade last year after a market access protocol between New Zealand and Iran was concluded.
While Iran is not an easy market to trade into, there has been some trade since 2017 and the market has the potential to grow, Sirma Karapeeva, trade & economic manager for the Meat Industry Association, said.
This year to date New Zealand exported over $1.1 million worth of lamb to Iran.
"The U.S. sanctions adds further complexity to an already complex market," Karapeeva said.
"Clearly the situation is sensitive and our advice to exporters would be to do their due diligence – to talk to their banks and shipping lines and to get legal advice before exporting to Iran," she said.
"We are all watching to see how the situation unfolds - including with regards to third country sanctions and the application of the U.S. "humanitarian goods" guidelines which cover food and agricultural exports," she said.
New Zealand special trade envoy Mike Petersen, who was a part of a delegation to Iran led by then Ministry for Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy last year, said worsening U.S.-Iran trade relations was "concerning".
At the time, Guy said: "This is a crucial step for New Zealand meat companies as they look to re-enter the Iranian market."
"The risk is that the U.S. does start to follow through and put pressure on companies that are doing business with Iran," Petersen said.
"All exporters at the moment are taking these threats seriously and are thinking about how they do business in that part of the world," he said.
Increased trade friction was not going to hurt New Zealand but there was a risk if world trade relations worsened.
Petersen said there was potential for further disruption to the world trade system if trade wars spread to other parts of the world.
Iran is the second biggest economy in the Middle East and the North Africa region.