Browse Data and Analysis

The Government of New Zealand has passed legislation that will restrict a wide range of plastic products to be sold in New Zealand, including non-compostable produce stickers.

With the start of 2023, New Zealand has begun to experience a nation-wide egg shortage, which follows price rises for eggs during the last year. Contributing factors for the price increase and supply shortfall are labor shortages in laying operations...

New Zealand is by far the largest exporter of deer meat and products in the world. The first commercial deer farm in New Zealand was established in the early 1970s and since then, the industry has grown into an on-average NZ$280 million (US$175 million) per year export earner for the country’s agricultural sector.

New Zealand is the second largest exporter of lamb meat in the world, only slightly below Australia, and also one of the top exporters of wool. Today the national sheep herd is far less than half of its peak of approximately over 70 million in the 1980s, having declined to only 26 million today. Despite the national flock continuing to decline, during the last decade meat production and exports have remained stable.

New Zealand continues to be an important market for U.S. agricultural products. In 2021, despite logistical and other challenges because of COVID-19, New Zealand’s imports continued to grow to a record US$ 625 million of U.S. agricultural products.

The New Zealand Productivity Commission submitted a report to the Government of New Zealand recommending that a review should be done on regulation of genetic modification to ensure it is fit for purpose and supports domestic innovation. Other than that, there have been no recent significant official changes to the genetically engineered (GE) policies established by the New Zealand government.

The outlook for the 2022/23 apple season in New Zealand is much more optimistic with the opening of international borders following COVID-19 restrictions. While the last two apple harvests were severely impacted by the lack of labor, the return of overseas workers under the Recognized Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme is expected to help allow a recovery in production, with the forecast up 12 percent from the previous year’s estimated crop.

New Zealand milk production is forecasted to fall slightly in 2023. Although milk prices are at extremely high levels and expected to remain elevated, a number of issues are limiting the production response. This includes a slowly declining national herd, and also that on-farm inflation is expected to remain high as a result of the weak NZ dollar impacting imported input prices, as well as strong global fuel prices.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a major effect on the Hotel, Restaurant, Institutional (HRI) sector in New Zealand. This is especially true of the tourism and hospitality sectors which have been severely hit by the closed international borders.

New Zealand is expected to have already reached “peak” cattle numbers, and FAS/Wellington anticipates a very gradual decline in both dairy and beef cow numbers in the near future. One of the major influences on this is New Zealand governmental policy, and in particular regulations regarding livestock exclusion around certain water sources, as well as proposed pricing of agricultural emissions.

This report lists the major export certificates and other documentation required by the Government of New Zealand for U.S. exporters and food and agricultural products. New Zealand’s import requirements for food and agricultural products are complex and change frequently.

New Zealand has strict biosecurity rules for plant and animal products but also imports large volumes of food and beverage products. This report outlines regulatory requirements for food and agricultural products exported to New Zealand. Key recent changes include regulations relating to organic foods, as well as the introduction of country-of-origin labeling for some products.