British High Commission Report
New Zealand has had a trade relationship with the United Kingdom since the first shipment of frozen meat from Port Chalmers to London in 1882. However, with the lapse of bulk purchasing agreements in 1954 and the United Kingdom’s joining of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1961, a narrative that the United Kingdom had economically ‘abandoned’ New Zealand was first initiated, continuing into modern times.
Against this background, in late 2020 the British High Commission invited the AERU to prepare a report reviewing the history of New Zealand’s agricultural, trade and economic policies with the United Kingdom, the European Union and other major export markets, with an analysis of how these have changed over time. This found that a strong trade relationship with the United Kingdom was maintained over time, with New Zealand increasingly diversifying its agricultural exports, with modern times seeing a shift from “export-led growth” to “value over volume”.