The latest Business New Zealand-BNZ survey paints a subdued picture.

Export barometer returns after three years with confidence at all-time high.

New Zealand exporters face less regulation and lower costs than their Australian counterparts, a new report says.

The Australian Productivity Commission has released the report, Performance Benchmarking of Australian and New Zealand Business Regulation: Food Safety.

Among its findings are that Australia’s charges for exporting are generally higher, its fee structure more complex and its regulatory system for exports less reliant on economical electronic processing than New Zealand’s.

Domestic sales have improved but the New Zealand dollar is holding exporters back, according to the latest New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association Survey of Manufacturers and Exporters (NZMEA).

The September survey showed a 9% decrease in total sales compared to September last year.

But the survey also showed wildly different fortunes between domestic and export sales – domestic sales increased by 18% but export sales dropped by 35%.

The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association today reiterated its call for changes to monetary policy, blaming the high dollar for further declines in the productive sector.

The latest NZMEA Survey of Business Conditions showed total sales in June decreased by 6% compared to June 2008.

Exporters bore the brunt of this change – export sales dropped by 19% from last June while domestic sales actually increased by 3%.

However, net confidence was the best in a year, increasing to -27 from -58 in May.

The end of the recession may still be a long way off, according to the results of a new survey that shows manufacturers and exporters are still in dire straits.

The latest New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association Survey of Business Conditions shows total sales by manufacturers and exporters decreased 59% in April compared to the same month last year.

Export sales decreased 53% while domestic sales slid even further, dropping 62% compared to April 2008.