Free trade talks on agenda at New Zealand-U.S. agriculture summit

WELLINGTON, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation on agricultural greenhouse gases and agricultural trade will be on the agenda in talks between senior New Zealand and U.S. agriculture sector officials next week.

New Zealand Primary Industries Minister David Carter announced Friday he would travel to the United StatesSaturday for a " primary industries summit."

Carter said in a statement he would meet with agricultural organizations, such as the Tri-Lamb Group and U.S. Cattlemen's Association, to discuss common New ZealandU.S. primary industry interests.

"These meetings further strengthen the New Zealand-U.S. bilateral relationship and give our two countries the opportunity to canvass a range of issues in the primary industries policy area. It is an opportunity to highlight the excellent collaborative work we already have with the U.S. though the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases," Carter said.

He would also discuss mutual benefits that would be realized through the Pacific-wide Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement currently under negotiation.

"The TPP is important to New Zealand's trade future and this visit will provide the opportunity to take political level readings on its progress," he said.

Carter would also travel to Stanford University, in California, to attend a gathering of about 20 of New Zealand's primary industry leaders.

"This is an excellent opportunity for the leaders of some of our most forward-thinking primary sector companies to collaborate on formulating a plan to leverage New Zealand's competitive advantage globally," he said.

"It's not often that we can get a powerful group like this representing over 80 percent of New Zealand primary sector exports around the table, and I am confident of a positive outcome."