Leading New Zealand dairy company Fonterra today welcomed the announcement that New Zealand and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) have completed negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement. Fonterra Managing Director Middle East Africa and CIS, Amr Farghal, said today that Fonterra was excited by the development. �Fonterra already exports around NZ$680 million of dairy products to GCC countries each year and these exports have been growing steadily,� said Mr Farghal. �We see exciting opportunities for high quality New Zealand dairy products to deliver protein and calcium to the local diet in the Middle East. �While the details have yet to be released, dairy trade currently faces tariffs of 5 per cent and we believe the agreement will allow us to become more competitive and to lift sales further.� The agreement builds on recent FTAs between New Zealand and ASEAN, China, and, most recently, Malaysia. Some 40 per cent of Fonterra�s exports now go to countries with which New Zealand has established FTAs. The New Zealand FTA will be the third for the GCC, which has already completed agreements with Singapore and EFTA (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein). - ENDS - For further information contact: Anne Howard/ Abigail Dawson ASDA�A Burson Marsteller Dubai, UAE Tel: 9714 3344550 a.howard@asdaa.com, A.dawson@asdaa.com

About Fonterra Fonterra is the world�s largest dairy exporter. As New Zealand�s largest and truly multinational business, Fonterra trades in 140 countries. Our portfolio includes dairy ingredients, liquid and powdered milks, cultured foods and yoghurts, butter, cheese and specialty foodservices products. Our brands include Anchor, Anlene, Anmum, Fresh n� Fruity, Mainland, Western Star, Brownes, Ski, Tip Top and Chesdale.