Kiwi farmers could be reaping the economic benefits of a proposed new free trade deal within 12 months.

Among the countries in the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership are the United States, Australia, Singapore, Chile, Malaysia and Vietnam, while Japan is now indicating it wants to come on board too. 

Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills says he expects farmers could be benefitting from the Trans Pacific Partnership within a year, as subsidies and tariffs of our key export partners are removed. 

"The partnership includes five of our top 10 export partners including three of our top four. So its important in that aspect and important because it represents a combined population of over half a billion people. "

Mr Wills says farmers will benefit because we’ll be able to send more produce to these countries while at the same time getting higher returns from it.

"There’s certainly some pretty high tariffs if you look at Japan as an example, we’re currently paying 38.5c in the dollar tariff on all the beef we send there and we send a a fair heap of beef.

"So if this thing happened and they were to become involved, I guess there’s a wind down period. But certainly huge benefit to us that we’d get some stronger price signals back." 

Mr Wills says it’s exciting that this trade deal could be realised quickly -- as opposed to other trade negotiations which drag on for decades.

"My sense is that the TPP is a very different beast it’s got some real enthusiasm behind it. Certainly over the weekend President Obama talked positively about having this thing signed off prior to his election next November.

"So you know if we can this thing signed done and dusted in 12 months that’s pretty good progress and the benefits will flow as soon as the ink is dry on the document."

Mr Wills says he believes that in the tough current economic times, countries are beginning to wake up to the fact that propping up their farmers with subsidies does not make good financial sense.

Overnight, it was revealed that both Canada and Mexico are now expressing interest in joining the TPP.