The European Union and New Zealand said they would start talks for a free-trade agreement, likely giving Wellington more access to the EU's 500 million consumers. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key met with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, where they discussed issues ranging from customs to animal health issues, to broaden trade ties. "Today we committed to start the process for negotiations to achieve swiftly a deep and comprehensive high quality free-trade agreement. Discussions to define the scope and overall approach to the negotiations should start as soon as possible," the three men said in a joint statement. Total trade in goods between the EU and New Zealand was 7.9 billion euros ($8.67 billion) in 2014, according to the European Commission. The EU is New Zealand's third largest trading partner after Australia and China.