NZ Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated president Neil Trebilco described the hard-fought TPP as "another big win" for kiwifruit growers on the back of a recent Korea tariff elimination agreement.
Mr Trebilco said once fully implemented, the TPP Agreement would result in the elimination of annual export tariffs equalling about $26 million for New Zealand fruit and vegetable growers. The two tariff elimination agreements would have a significant impact on grower earnings, he said.
"New Zealand kiwifruit growers pay around $22 million in annual Korean tariffs so the combined savings once both agreements have been rolled out will equal around $37 million."
Prime Minister John Key said the TPP - New Zealand's biggest free trade agreement - would help Kiwi firms to do more business overseas, in particular with the United States and Japan.
TPP would eliminate tariffs on 93 per cent of the country's exports to new free-trade partners: the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Peru.
Dairy exporters would have access to these markets through newly-created quotas, in addition to the tariff elimination on a number of products, he said.
Tariffs on all other New Zealand exports to TPP countries will be eliminated, with the exception of beef exports to Japan, where tariffs would reduce significantly. Mr Key said the overall benefit to New Zealand was estimated to be at least $2.7 billion a year by 2030.
Green Party Tauranga candidate Dr Ian McLean said the Green Party's main concern was these sorts of agreements decreased local resilience and created greater dependency on international markets.
Dr McLean said the party also believed there should have been more focus on the environmental impacts from the TPP and local productivity, which had been ignored.
Labour Party's acting leader Annette King said New Zealand had "missed the bus" on the country's biggest export with "disappointing crumbs" for the country's dairy industry. "The devil is definitely in the detail of these agreements," she said
Federated Farmers BOP dairy chairman Steve Bailey said although not as comprehensive as the industry would have hoped for, the TPP appeared to be beneficial for agriculture and for New Zealand.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan Gregic said the TPP deal would set a playing field for New Zealand business to succeed internationally for years to come.
As a trading nation, a Trans-Pacific Partnership puts in place the potential for thousands of jobs and billions of foreign exchange earnings. For the Western Bay region we have range of industries, from horticulture to diverse added export businesses which all have the potentional to benefit," he said.
Q & A
What is the TPP?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a free trade agreement between 12 Asia-Pacific countries.
Which countries are involved?
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
The TPP will create new trade opportunities and diversify export destinations.
It offers much better access to large and important markets for NZ's goods and services.
How will New Zealand benefit?
The TPP will create new trading opportunities and export destinations.
Tariffs on our exports to TPP countries will be eliminated.
Apart from beef exports to Japan, where tariffs will reduce significantly, and dairy exports to the US, Japan, Mexico and Canada.
The TPP is estimated to create at least $2.7 billion a year extra in New Zealand's GDP by 20130.
