(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yoon-gu = The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency announced on the 7th that domestic lilies and sympodial orchids (cut flowers) can now be exported to New Zealand. The export quarantine negotiations with New Zealand were finally concluded on the 20th of last month. With the conclusion of this negotiation, lilies and sympodial orchids have become the fourth items, after pears (1999), grapes (2012), and citrus fruits (2022), to be exported to New Zealand. The Quarantine Agency officially requested New Zealand to allow the import of lilies and sympodial orchids in 2008, but there was no progress in the negotiations for a long time. However, negotiations resumed in earnest from 2022, and after continuous discussions with the New Zealand authorities, the quarantine negotiations were finally concluded after 17 years. From now on, lilies and sympodial orchids commercially grown in the country can be exported to New Zealand after undergoing export quarantine and attaching a plant quarantine certificate, without any special requirements. Lilies and sympodial orchids have mainly been exported to Japan so far. The Quarantine Agency is also conducting quarantine negotiations to allow the export of roses, chrysanthemums, and Phalaenopsis to New Zealand. Jeong-rok Choi, Director of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, said, "This achievement in the quarantine negotiations will have a positive impact on the expansion of domestic cut flower exports and the increase in income for horticultural farmers." ykim@yna.co.kr