New Zealand aims to improve export documents to capitalize on FTAs

The New Zealand government is stepping up funding to improve its troubled export documentation system, which has seen goods held up in foreign markets.

"Exports to China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries have increased significantly in the past four years. This is good for exporters and good for our economy, but as the volume of exports has increased, so too has the number of administrative issues arising at the border," Customs Minister Nicky Wagner said Wednesday.

The government was spending an extra 6.2 million NZ dollars (4. 44 million U.S. dollars) over the next four years to help improve access to international markets and reduce the risk of trade disruption.

"Targeted technical expertise will be provided to exporters so they are in a better position to take full advantage of our trade agreements and claim FTA (free trade agreement) duty preferences," Wagner said in a statement.

"Better assurance over the security and legitimacy of New Zealand exports will be achieved by monitoring the integrity of export documentation," she said.

"Customs will also increase export assurance by increasing the number of exporters in its 'trusted trader' scheme and implementing an electronic system for sharing certificate of origin data with China."

The Export New Zealand lobby group welcomed the announcement, saying it provided regular feedback about barriers to exporting and getting through Customs. Endi