UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed New Zealand's "fantastic" Oyster Bay wine and our "orcs and hobbits" in announcing free trade deal talks between the two countries.
The negotiations, which are anticipated to kick off next month, come as the UK "embarks on its next steps post-Brexit", Trade Minister David Parker said on Wednesday.
In September, the UK said New Zealand was one of three countries it considered a top priority for post-Brexit free trade. The UK is New Zealand's sixth-largest trading partner, with two-way trade totalling $6 billion last year.
Announcing the talks in a video on Twitter, Johnson on Thursday (NZ time) waxed lyrical about the exports and relationships the UK shared with New Zealand, and described the looming negotiations as "a big moment" for both nations.
"I'm very, very proud today to be inaugurating the first stage of the New Zealand-UK free trade talks with Jacinda Ardern, my friend and counterpart," he said.
"There's so much we already do. I mean let's face it, we buy colossal quantities of New Zealand win - fantastic Oyster Bay - we watch the orcs and hobbits we think come from New Zealand.
"We export gin, we export buses to New Zealand - but frankly there's so much more we could do together, from agriculture to services."
Johnson admitted the UK and New Zealand are "about as far apart as any two countries could be geographically" - but he says the countries "are united by a shared history, a shared language and a shared head of state".
"We have a fantastic opportunity now to bring our two countries closer than ever before."
In another video posted on social media to commemorate similar free trade talks with Australia, Johnson said the UK would swap its Marmite with their Vegemite - and urged them to export their "wonderful" Arnott's Tim Tams to the UK with reduced tariffs.
"How long can the British people be deprived of the opportunity to have Tim Tams at a reasonable price?" he asked.
In the footage he also extolled Australia's wine and shared a surprising revelation that the UK exported boomerangs there.
In September, the UK said New Zealand was one of three countries it considered a top priority for post-Brexit free trade. The UK is New Zealand's sixth-largest trading partner, with two-way trade totalling $6 billion last year.
