NZ Prepping to Sue Canada Over Dairy Trade Access

NZ claims Canada is blocking exporters and has not upheld an independent panel ruling from September 2023.

(L-R) Trade or foreign ministers of Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, Chile, Brunei, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam pose for an official picture after signing the rebranded 11-nation Pacific trade pact Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Santiago, on March 8, 2018. Claudio Reyes/AFP via Getty Images

A trade dispute between New Zealand and Canada over dairy products has escalated with Trade Minister Todd McClay seeking legal advice over what he calls a “cynical ” ploy by Canada to limit market access.

Under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free trade agreement, Canada, as a signatory, was supposed to allow free and unrestricted access of New Zealand’s dairy products to the Canadian market.