New Zealand 2026 election: trade access and agricultural exports

For a farming business outside a main centre, trade policy matters well beyond the price paid at the farm gate. It can affect access to overseas markets, the cost of imported fertiliser and machinery, compliance requirements, and the resilience of the supply chains that get your products to buyers.

As you compare parties ahead of the 2026 New Zealand general election, it helps to separate three questions:

• Market access: Who is proposing to open new markets, strengthen free-trade agreements, and reduce tariffs or other barriers?
• Export protection: Who is addressing biosecurity, food-safety standards, trade disputes, and the risk of overseas restrictions on New Zealand products?
• Farm operating conditions: How do trade ambitions fit with environmental rules, emissions costs, transport infrastructure, and access to rural services?

A party can support agricultural exports while disagreeing with others about how to achieve them, particularly where environmental standards and international trade obligations intersect.

What the main parties are offering

The comparison below reflects publicly reported positions available as of 16 October 2026. The election is scheduled for 7 November 2026. National has published a dedicated trade policy; for some other parties, the available evidence is a combination of election announcements, statements from trade spokespeople, and broader rural policies. National to pursue the next billion customersLabour’s Trade for All revival sparks criticismThe main parties vying to form New Zealand's next government

1. National Party

Trade expansion, export growth and reduced barriers

National's formal policy, New Zealand's Next Billion Customers, commits to starting trade negotiations with seven new economies within five years: Brazil, Switzerland, Argentina, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Uruguay and the European Free Trade Association countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).

It also proposes reducing non-tariff barriers, expanding digital customs and paperless trade, conducting at least 23 trade missions over the next parliamentary term, and reaffirming the goal of doubling export value by 2034. National says the India free-trade agreement has been signed and is progressing through Parliament. National to pursue the next billion customersNew Zealand's Next Billion Customers

For a farm: The emphasis is on opening more markets and making it easier to sell into them. The practical question is how quickly negotiations would deliver better access for your particular products, especially where tariffs, quotas or sanitary requirements remain obstacles.

2. New Zealand Labour Party

Use existing agreements and include wider social and environmental goals

Labour says it would reinstate its Trade for All approach, which incorporates environmental protection, workers' rights, gender equality and Indigenous rights into trade policy. Trade spokesperson Damien O'Connor has indicated that Labour would likely pursue fewer new trade negotiations than National and focus more on helping businesses take advantage of agreements already secured.

Labour has also indicated it would consider restoring $10 million to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the export-development agency, to help businesses develop markets opened by trade agreements. Labour’s Trade for All revival sparks criticismSpeech: Labour's foreign policy

For a farm: The emphasis is on getting more commercial value from existing market access while retaining broader standards in trade negotiations. Consider whether export-development support would help your business, and whether the proposed negotiating approach would secure the specific access your sector needs.

3. ACT New Zealand

Lower farm compliance costs and fewer regulatory constraints

ACT's agricultural platform focuses on reducing farm red tape, opposing agricultural emissions pricing, keeping agriculture out of the Emissions Trading Scheme, and replacing what it describes as excessive regulation with clearer national standards. It also advocates faster access to approved agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines. On trade negotiations, ACT's Andrew Hoggard has criticised Labour's Trade for All approach, arguing that additional conditions could make it harder to secure agricultural market access. ACT New ZealandACT New ZealandLabour’s Trade for All revival sparks criticism

For a farm: The main relevance is the potential effect on compliance costs and investment decisions at home, alongside a preference for trade negotiations focused on commercial access rather than a broad set of additional policy objectives. These are distinct from a quantified commitment to open particular new export markets.

4. New Zealand First

Primary industries and regional infrastructure

New Zealand First says it will continue prioritising the primary sector and regional New Zealand. It highlights its record of securing regional infrastructure funding, including for flood protection, water storage, irrigation and port upgrades. It also emphasises support for industries such as fishing, forestry, aquaculture and wool. Election 2026: What Parties Promise the Primary SectorElection 2026: What Parties Promise the Primary Sector

For a farm: Infrastructure can affect freight costs, access to export gateways, water resilience and the viability of remote operations. The key question is which projects would receive funding, where they would be located, and on what timetable. The sources reviewed provide less detail on a new, specific trade-negotiation programme than National's published plan.

5. Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Sustainability and wider conditions in trade agreements

The Greens support Trade for All and argue that trade policy should incorporate sustainability and justice. Their published trade and foreign investment policy emphasises these principles, while their agriculture and climate policies set out broader environmental objectives. The party's trade spokesperson has argued that such provisions may strengthen relationships with partners such as the European Union, although they may not appeal to every trading partner. Complete Party PolicyLabour’s Trade for All revival sparks criticism

For a farm: This approach makes environmental credentials and the terms under which goods are produced more central to trade policy. It is worth checking the detailed proposals for your sector to establish the likely compliance implications and whether they would create commercial opportunities in particular markets.

Other parties to consider

• The Opportunities Party (TOP): Its 2026 platform includes a proposed land-value tax, including a 0.5% annual tax on rural land. For a farm owner, that is relevant to operating costs and land ownership, although it is not itself a trade-access policy. The main parties vying to form New Zealand's next governmentElection 2026: What Parties Promise the Primary Sector

• Te Pāti Māori: Its reported campaign priorities include housing, health, education and environmental protection. The sources reviewed do not establish a sufficiently detailed, current agricultural-export programme to make a like-for-like trade comparison. The main parties vying to form New Zealand's next government

What does “protecting agricultural exports” actually mean?

A trade agreement is only one part of the picture. New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade identifies market access and the rules governing agricultural trade as important to the country's export interests. It notes that free-trade agreements cover around 70% of current goods exports, but that barriers to agricultural trade remain an issue. Agricultural trade negotiations | New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

For your farm, there are four practical areas worth examining across party policies.

1. Tariffs, quotas and market access

Will the party pursue new agreements, improve access under existing ones, or help exporters reach buyers in markets where New Zealand already has a trade deal?

2. Biosecurity and product standards

What will it do to prevent pests and diseases entering New Zealand, and to help exporters meet overseas food-safety, animal-health and plant-health requirements? Market access can be lost even when tariffs are low.

3. Environmental compliance and export credibility

How will domestic emissions, freshwater and land-use rules affect production costs? Will the party prioritise reducing compliance costs, maintaining environmental commitments, or combining the two? What matters commercially is how the policies affect both production and access to buyers.

4. Freight, infrastructure and rural services

What commitments exist for rural roads, ports, reliable electricity, telecommunications, water infrastructure and veterinary services? These affect your farm even if you do not export directly, because processors and exporters depend on your production reaching their markets efficiently.

A practical way to compare the policies

Rather than treating any party's export target as a guarantee of better returns, look for measurable commitments and ask how they connect to your farm's circumstances.

Question to ask	What to look for
Which new markets?	Named countries, negotiating timelines and specific products that could benefit
Will access improve in practice?	Reduced tariffs, larger quotas, recognition of standards and fewer non-tariff barriers
What happens if a market closes?	Biosecurity capability, trade-dispute support and market diversification
What will it cost to comply?	Specific changes to emissions, freshwater, land-use and reporting rules
What about rural isolation?	Funded infrastructure and service commitments, not just general promises

One further distinction is important: a government can negotiate access to a market, but it cannot guarantee export prices, overseas demand or the profitability of an individual farm. Those outcomes also depend on exchange rates, input costs, processors, shipping and conditions in overseas markets.

Where to verify the latest commitments

These sources are useful starting points for checking party claims against the published policies:

• National — New Zealand's Next Billion Customers
• Labour — 2026 election policies
• ACT — Make Farming Fun Again
• Green Party — complete policy directory
• Rural News — 2026 primary-sector election coverage

My suggestion is to compare the parties against the products your farm produces, your biggest compliance expenses and the rural services you depend on. That will make the trade-policy differences more concrete without assuming that a party's national export strategy necessarily translates into a better outcome for every farm.