Trade and economic analysis

Trade and economic funding

Funding for Export Markets - Trade Access Support Programme

What is the Trade Access Support Programme?

New Zealand exporters frequently face barriers to international markets that restrict or prohibit trade. Tariffs are one problem. Another less visible issue is barriers at or behind the border, such as discriminatory product standards, labelling requirements, unscientific quarantine restrictions, and other government regulations or red tape.
The Trade Access Support Programme (TASP) funds practical efforts to break down regulatory barriers that may be constraining New Zealand's exports of goods and services or constraining investment which would add value to exports behind the border.  The Government has allocated $500,000 excluding GST per annum to assist New Zealand exporters through TASP.

Trade Access Support Programme projects

Exporters experiencing access problems in a particular export market are strongly encouraged to contact the relevant regional division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to develop a strategy for dealing with them. This might include funding a project under TASP.

TASP projects should focus on the following broad objectives:

• To improve market access for New Zealand exports (usually by addressing a specific overseas barrier to trade);
• To increase the competitiveness of New Zealand exports (e.g. by seeking to resolve an access issue with the intended result that it decreases the costs of accessing a particular market or markets);
• To analyse the scope for market access to contribute to economic performance (e.g. by commissioning research into potential economic gains from resolving access issues);
• To support activities aimed at promoting market access covering goods, services and outwards investment (e.g. by funding activities to address access issues that prevent exporters entering or adding value in a particular market);
• To support activities aimed at defending market access, covering goods, services and outwards investment (e.g. by inviting relevant officials to New Zealand to reassure them that our processes and regulations will continue to meet their requirements and to seek to prevent access problems occurring).

Specific objectives of TASP projects in the past have included:

• Overcoming difficulties in the area of industrial or product standards
• Addressing quarantine or phytosanitary barriers on specific products in individual markets
• Reassuring overseas markets of the quality of New Zealand agricultural, seafood and forestry exports
• Research into the opportunities for exporters of goods and services and the market access barriers they face.
• Promoting further liberalisation of market access for our export trade, including agriculture.

Examples of projects recently funded by TASP:

• Partial funding of development of a phytosanitary compliance programme for exports of cut flowers and foliage to US in conjunction with the NZ Flower Exporters Association;
• Funding a senior NZFSA official to Jakarta for a 4 day visit to engage with senior Ministry of Agriculture officials on matters relating to a ban on imports of New Zealand meat and to address outstanding issues with  aspects of Indonesia’s decrees regulating imports of meat;
• Hosting a one week visit of three Vietnamese senior food safety officials to facilitate improved market access for NZ exports by providing technical capacity building for the Vietnam competent authorities responsible for regulating imports of NZ products;   
• Partial funding of a visit to NZ by Indonesian officials to view NZ onion production systems, and explore a resolution to Indonesia’s new phytosanitary regulations which restrict imports of onions;
• Co-funded research into the contribution of shipping emissions to the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of key NZ food and beverage export products to help better position NZ exporters to provide information to their customers and better manage GHG emissions associated with transport to market

Activities proposed for funding should be suitable for wider application and have potential for follow-up action.  TASP is intended to benefit an entire export sector, rather than a single exporter.