WELLINGTON, July 15 -- New Zealands free trade agreements (FTAs), particularly those with the Chinese mainland and China's Taiwan, are paying off for the country's meat exporters, an industry group said Wednesday.

Beef and lamb exporters saw tariff savings of 161 million NZ dollars (107.99 million U.S. dollars) last year, and the amount was set to grow as tariffs continued to be cut and export volumes grew, according to Beef + Lamb New Zealand.

The sector's export returns last year totaled 7.7 billion NZ dollars (5.16 billion U.S. dollars), with the amount in tariffs paid falling from 331 million NZ dollars (222.03 million U.S. dollars) in 2013 to 326 million NZ dollars (218.68 million U.S. dollars) last year.

The decrease in tariffs paid and increase in tariffs saved was largely a result of the continued removal of tariffs negotiated as part of New Zealand's FTAs, particularly with China and Taiwan, Beef + Lamb chief executive Scott Champion said in a statement.

"As market access for our red meat products continues to improve as more FTAs come into force, and tariffs are further phased out within existing FTAs, those savings can only grow."

The increased tariff savings enabled New Zealand to remain competitive on the global market and gave exporters the flexibility to viably sell products into more markets.