11th India-New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting held in New Zealand

The 11th India-New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting was held bilaterally in New Zealand on 26-27 April 2024 under the leadership of Commerce Secretary Shri Sunil Barthwal.

Highlights of the 11th bilateral meeting

• Delegations from both countries participated in the meeting. New Zealand was represented by Trade Minister Todd McClay.
• India and New Zealand discussed the prospects for enhancing economies and bilateral trade and people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
• Possibilities to strengthen economic ties and promote cooperation between the two countries and to strengthen existing close ties and business contacts were considered.
• The two countries discussed the continuation of strong bilateral economic dialogue and the formation of working groups on areas such as agriculture.
• During this period, food processing, storage and transportation; Emphasis was placed on the forestry and pharmaceuticals sectors to facilitate ongoing cooperation on key trade and economic issues.
• Cooperation in the horticulture sector was prominent in the discussion, in which possibilities of cooperation in the kiwi fruit sector (quality and productivity, proper storage in pack houses and their appropriate transportation) as well as in the dairy sector were also discussed.
• The meeting discussed bilateral trade matters of mutual interest, including market access, non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures on products such as grapes, okra and mangoes, mutual recognition arrangements (MRA) in organic Related issues included.
• To facilitate the product import-export process, mutual recognition of uniformity of domestic vehicle standards etc. is included.
• The hospitality sector including adventure tourism, nursing, tele-medicine, education, air connectivity, joint R&D (wherever possible), startups etc. were discussed during the meeting.
• Cooperation in the field of pharmaceuticals and medical devices was discussed in detail, including adopting fast tracking of the regulatory process and evaluating the quality of manufacturing facilities using inspection reports from comparable foreign regulators. Greater sourcing of medicines from India and cooperation in the medical equipment sector were also discussed in detail.
• Briefly discussed the possibilities of cooperation opportunities in digital trade, nationally determined contributions, cross border payment systems etc. 

India-New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC)

• It is a high-level forum to promote bilateral trade and investment relations between the two countries.
• India and New Zealand signed a trade and economic cooperation agreement in 1988, after which the JTC was established.
• The main objective of the JTC is to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries and remove barriers.
• Under this, agriculture, mining, energy, power, machinery, dairy products, pharmaceuticals, information technology and other sectors have been included.

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