Employer Bulletin | 6 June

New Zealand businesses are now benefitting from the new free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK FTA). The agreement, one of seven negotiated by the Labour government, has come into effect, bringing an up to $1 billion boost to annual GDP. Immediate savings of around $37 million are expected as tariffs are eliminated and duty-free quotas cover 99.5% of current exports. Notably, the wine industry will see tariffs worth $25 million disappear, and the dairy and red meat sectors gain duty and quota-free access for the first time in 50 years. The proportion of export goods covered by FTAs has increased from 52.5% to 73.5% since 2017.

In today's Bulletin:

• Faster ACC payment top-ups and fairer system
• UK FTA delivers benefits from today
• Supporting a strong future for screen sector 
• Employment stocks and flows series 
• Two Employment Relations Authority cases and five Bills open for public submission.