An ongoing bilateral trade policy dialogue has been established between the governments of New Zealand and the UK.

The UK's international trade secretary Liam Fox and New Zealand's minister of trade Todd McClay have pledged their commitment to the new process, which will complement the existing UK-New Zealand strategic dialogue on foreign policy.

Talks will be convened at a senior official level and cover topics such as market access and trade policy issues of mutual interest, including World Trade Organization processes and current and prospective negotiations.

An initial meeting has been scheduled to take place by early 2017, with subsequent talks to be held roughly every six months.

Mr Fox said: "This new trade policy dialogue reflects a strong political commitment from New Zealand and the UK to take the lead in pushing for greater global trade liberalisation and reform."

New Zealand has already signalled interest in pursuing a free trade agreement with the UK as soon as the country is in a position to negotiate a deal independently of the European Union.