One of the hot topics of late is of course the UK voting to leave the EU - and what will this mean for Kiwi exporters?! 

While nothing will change in the short term - it will be a long and complex process - the NZ Government wants to be as well prepared as possible.

MFAT is inviting submissions from NZ businesses that export goods or services to the UK, and/or those that have investments in the UK.

These submissions will inform the Government’s approach and allow it to more effectively work to safeguard New Zealand’s interests as the process unfolds.

See below for further details and how you can have an input.

Catherine Beard
027 463 3212 or cbeard@exportnz.org.nz

In this month's Trade Update, I look at how things are looking for ratification of TPP by the US. Also, an update on the ASEAN, China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and NZ Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership, plus:

What will the new trade strategy for New Zealand be, especially if the current crop of FTA's in the pipeline (inc TPP and EU) get across the line?  More...

C Beard

Following the UK’s referendum decision to leave the European Union, MFAT is inviting submissions from New Zealand businesses that export goods or services to the United Kingdom, and/or that have investments in the United Kingdom. See the press release from Minister Todd McClay here.

While nothing will change in the short term, the Government is paying close attention to the exit process, to ensure New Zealand’s interests are maintained and advanced.

These submissions will help ensure MFAT has a full picture of the issues that matter to New Zealand companies which trade with, or invest in, the UK. It will inform the Government’s approach to issues that may arise in the course of the UK’s exit, and allow the Government to more effectively work to safeguard New Zealand’s interests as the process unfolds.

At this stage they are NOT seeking submissions from:

• importers of goods or services from the UK (unless they also export to the UK);
• exporters who focus solely on trading elsewhere in the EU, but not the UK. 

Oral and written submissions are open until 14 October 2016. All will be treated as commercial in-confidence.
See the MFAT website for further details and information on how to make a submission.

Callaghan Innovation and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise want to help 15 tech companies get to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January.

Expressions of interest, which can come from start-ups, early stage or established companies, close on 2 September!
To find our more and apply, go to Callaghan Innovation’s website.

China is the world’s largest e-commerce market, connecting over  417 million online shoppers and is worth upwards of US $590 billion. The E-commerce marketplace is diverse and continuously evolving. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) team in our Embassy in Beijing have prepared this report which describes:

• the dominant e-commerce platforms
• their growth and diversification
• key players/personalities
• and touches on how the different platforms have sought to meet market demands by supporting differentiation of genuine brands and other lesser quality goods and various payment systems available for sellers and buyers.

MFAT welcomes feedback or the sharing of experiences in utilising Chinese e-commerce platforms. Please contact Dawn Bennet and Graci Kim at the NZ Embassy in Beijing by emailing dawn.bennet@mfat.govt.nz or graci.kim@mfat.govt.nz.

Culture is an important part of doing business in China but Kiwis need to be wary of generalisations and stereotypes. Johnathan Chen, Head of Asia Division at James & Wells, explains how to reduce the risk of embarrassing cultural gaffes.

If you wandered into a meeting in Auckland’s CBD wearing gumboots and a singlet, you would be laughed out of the office. Kiwis who base their view of Chinese culture on crude stereotypes risk a similar fate when doing business in China. Just as not all New Zealanders dress or act like the fictional farmer Fred Dagg, there is no one culture that applies to all Chinese. The country of 1.3 billion people features a range of languages, cultures and religions... More...

Doing business in China is certaibnly not for the faint hearted. If you are planning on doing business in this huge and complex country, you'd better do your homework first!

Don't worry if you can't physcialy get to a training venue, as there is now online China Business Training available as well as face-to-face. Check it out here.

If you have any questions you can email amy@occamtraining.com or call (NZ) 021 0284 6899.

Customs would like to thank those companies who gave feedback on the anticipated change to the Customs (Export Entry) Rules that will require entering a Certificate of Origin number for exports to China.

Customs received feedback from 14 companies or associations regarding foreseen impacts to business practice. This feedback is greatly appreciated and will help guide decisions in the future.

Common themes amongst the feedback will be included as “FAQs” on the NZ Customs website here. If you have any queries regarding exports to countries which NZ has Free Trade Agreem'ents with, please address them to export2fta@customs.govt.nz.

NZ Customs recently announced changes to the Joint Border Management system – designed to streamline the data companies have to provide. 

Details are available on the NZ Customs website, including updated information on the “Trade Single Window" (TSW).

Subject to testing and a pilot phase with industry being completed, it is expected the remaining TSW functionality will be deployed in early 2017 after the trade season peak. Customs and MPI will consult with industry on proposed new mandatory dates for traders to adopt the WCO3 format for all messages.

The remaining TSW functionality will deliver:

• The Inward Cargo Report that includes electronically requesting approval to move consignments out of the port or airline store if they have not been cleared already.  
• Electronic messages for industry to report ship arrivals and departures.  
• Extending the Trader self service capability introduced in March 2015 allowing traders to manage how their staff use the system.
• Providing officers with full access to transactions in TSW so they can help traders with any issues they have with completing the fields.  More...

The Embassy of Mexico in New Zealand and the Mexican Trade & Investment Promotion Agency are holding a Doing Business in Mexico Seminar on 6 October at the Northern Club, 19 Princes Street, Auckland from 8:00 - 10:30am.

To find out more click here and to register email: culturalesnze@sre.gob.mx

If you are an exporter of services to the Asia Pacific region and you encounter trade barriers – we want to let  APEC leaders know what the pain points are so they can work on removing them.  The more exporters that take the survey the more likely we are to get them to focus on fixing the problems..

ABAC and PECC now need to collectively secure at least 700 responses by 2 September 2016! Please help by taking the survey here.

Earlier this year a group of like-minded people came together to plan a conference on food integrity – speculating that NZ food producers would be as interested as their global counterparts.  Drawing from their collective knowledge and connections they brought together speakers from NZ, China, Australia and the US.

The inaugural Food Integrity conference was held on 13 & 14 July in Auckland and was attended by a wide range of delegates from food businesses, regulatory authorities, science and education communities... More...

PhD Candidate from the Massey University School of Management, Chao ZHAO, is studying the speed of internationalisation, expansion of geographic scope and increase of international involvement of NZ exporting firms. The aim of his study is to:

• provide exporting firms with guidance on how to develop and configure internationalisation strategies to achieve success in international markets
• provide insights into why certain dynamic capabilities should be developed and how to better exploit their value in rapidly changing markets
• examine owner/manager’s personal attributes to reveal how their decision-making styles affect firm performance in international markets.

Your input would provide great value to these outcomes. Please take a few minutes to fill out the questionnaire here.

There are some great opportunities for improving your business through learnings at seminars, workshops and events. To see what's coming up, go to the ExportNZ home page and scroll down to see what's happening around the country.

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