ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement  

About AANZFTA

The Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) is Australia’s most ambitious trade deal to date. The countries of ASEAN - Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - constitute one of the most dynamic economic regions in the world. And what’s more, it’s right on Australia’s doorstep.

AANZFTA is Australia’s first multi-country FTA. It is the first time Australia and New Zealand have been involved jointly in negotiating an FTA with third countries. It is the first time ASEAN has embarked on FTA negotiations covering all sectors including goods, services, investment and intellectual property simultaneously. This makes it the most comprehensive trade agreement that ASEAN has ever negotiated.

AANZFTA will deliver real commercial benefit for Australian exporters and investors.

Key interests and benefits

• Extensive tariff reduction and elimination commitments.
• Regional rules of origin will provide new opportunities for Australian exporters to tap into  international supply chains in the region.
• Promotes greater certainty for Australian service suppliers and investors, including through certain legal protections for investment in ASEAN territories.
• Provides a platform for ongoing economic engagement with ASEAN through a range of built-in agendas, economic cooperation projects and business outreach activities.

AANZFTA: overview and key outcomes

News

Meetings of the FTA Joint Committee

THE THIRD MEETING OF THE FTA JOINT COMMITTEE - 30 May - 3 June 2011, Wellington, New Zealand [PDF]

THE SECOND MEETING OF THE FTA JOINT COMMITTEE - 24-25 November 2010,Melbourne, Australia [PDF]

THE FIRST MEETING OF THE FTA JOINT COMMITTEE - 25-26 May 2010, Makati City, Philippines [PDF]

Media releases and statements

1. Australia’s Largest Free Trade Agreement Starts, 3 January 2010
2. Largest Australian Free Trade Agreement to Begin in 2010, 25 October 2009
3. ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand Leaders’ Statement: Entry into Force of the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, 25 October 2009
4. Regional Trade Ministers Strengthen Trade and Economic Linkages, 15 August 2009
5. Australia concludes Southeast Asia trade deal, Minister for Trade, 28 August 2008
6. Joint Media Statement of the 13th AEM-CER Consultations in Singapore, 28 August 2008

Official documents

Here you can locate the full text of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and many other associated official documents.

Full text of the agreement and associated documents

The AANZFTA package signed on 27 February 2009 consists of:

1. The text of the Agreement containing provisions on goods and services, investment, temporary movement of natural persons, electronic commerce, intellectual property, economic cooperation as well as competition policy and other issues.
2. Schedules of Tariff commitments by each of the twelve Parties, containing reduction and elimination commitments
3. A Schedule containing Product Specific Rules of Origin
4. Schedules of Specific Services commitments by each of the twelve Parties
5. Schedules of temporary Movement of Natural Persons commitments by each of the twelve Parties
6. An Implementing Arrangement [PDF 90 KB] containing an agreed Work Program of Economic Cooperation
7. A letter [PDF 22 KB] from Australia's Minister for Trade to Vietnam's Minister of Industry and Trade according recognition of Vietnam's Market Economy Status
8. A Memorandum of Understanding [PDF 12 KB] on Article 1 (Reduction and/or Elimination of Customs Duties) of the Trade in Goods Chapter relating to general exceptions
9. An exchange of letters between Australia's Minister for Trade [PDF 34 KB] and New Zealand's Minister of Trade [PDF 289 KB] on the application of AANZFTA between Australia and New Zealand

For further information, see AANZFTA Fact Sheet - Overview [PDF 202 KB].

For business

Australian Guide to the Agreement

(This Guide outlines AANZFTA obligations. The Guide was prepared by Australian Government officials and does not form part of the Agreement signed by Australian, New Zealand and ASEAN member governments.) Disclaimer

• Australian Guide to AANZFTA [PDF 169 KB]
• Download all of the AANZFTA Fact Sheets [PDF 623 KB]
• AANZFTA Fact Sheets
• Guide to the Chapters
• Guide to the Annexes and Associated Documents
• Background to AANZFTA

• Australian Guide to Investment Commitments
• Australian Guide to Intellectual Property Commitments

Making use of AANZFTA to export or import goods

The following document has been prepared to help exporters and importers to make full use of AANZFTA. It contains practical advice on how to find tariff commitments and Rules of Origin (ROO) requirements for individual products.

Making use of AANZFTA to export or import goods [PDF 195 KB]

The document also explains the requirement to obtain Certificates of Origin (COO) from authorised bodies to claim preferential tariff treatment, the information required for COO, as well as arrangements for authorising bodies to issue COO under AANZFTA.

Important notice to exporters using AANZFTA - changes to AANZFTA Certificate of Origin for Third-Party Invoices [PDF 91 KB] - 12 August 2010

Also available for download are the:

Guidelines for completing the information on the Origin Conferring Criterion on the Certificate of Origin form of AANZFTA [PDF 19 KB]

Australian (and New Zealand) exporters who do not wish to provide FOB information to the issuing authority/body have the option of providing this information separately using an;

Exporter Declaration form [PDF 14 KB]

The Exporter Declaration form needs to be presented with the COO to the Customs Authority of the importing Party at the time of import declaration. 

Review of non-tariff measures

The Trade in Goods Chapter of the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) provides for the Trade in Goods Committee to undertake a review of non-tariff measures (NTMs) affecting trade in goods among the Parties, with a view to considering the scope for additional means to enhance the facilitation of trade in goods between the Parties. Submissions from interested persons or groups on issues to be addressed have been invited by DFAT and will still be accepted, although the target date for submissions has passed.

Invitation for submissions on non-tariff measures

Doing business in ASEAN

The Australian Trade Commission’s (Austrade) AANZFTA website has further information about the agreement.

For more information on doing business with ASEAN Member States, or about specific export opportunities, go to the Austrade website. As well as country-specific information, the Austrade website also provides information on export markets by industry.

Australian importers seeking to access new opportunities under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA may wish to obtain more information on tariffs, rules of origin and other requirements from the Australian Customs Service.

Resources

Overview

The Agreement Establishing the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) was signed by the then Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, and his ASEAN and New Zealand counterparts, on 27 February 2009 in Hua Hin, Thailand. See the Joint Media Statement on the signing of the Agreement.

AANZFTA is the largest FTA Australia has concluded. ASEAN and New Zealand together account for 18% of Australia's total trade in goods and services, which were worth $104 billion in 2010-11.

AANZFTA contains regional rules of origin and substantial tariff reduction and elimination commitments, as well as World Trade Organization (WTO)-plus commitments in other areas such as services, which will provide commercially meaningful benefits to Australian business and further strengthen Australia's commercial ties with ASEAN.

Mr Crean tabled AANZFTA in Parliament on 16 March 2009, along with the National Interest Analysis and Regulation Impact Statement. These documents are available at the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties webpage. Legislation relating to AANZFTA’s tariff commitments and rules of origin was passed by the Australian Parliament on 17 September and given Royal Assent on 2 October 2009. Implementing regulations were approved by the Executive Council on 8 October, paving the way for Australia’s notification to AANZFTA Parties of its ratification of the Agreement on 21 October 2009.

Entry into force

AANZFTA is now in force for all 12 countries that signed the Agreement: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2010 for eight signatories: Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Burma, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

The Agreement entered into force for Thailand on 12 March 2010, for Laos on 1 January 2011, and for Cambodia on 4 January 2011.

The Agreement entered into force for Indonesia on 10 January 2012.

Implementation and economic co-operation

AANZFTA provides for a free trade agreement joint committee (the FTA Joint Committee) consisting of representatives of the Parties to oversee the implementation and operation of the Agreement. The FTA Joint Committee publishes a summary of the outcomes of its meetings that are relevant to the business sector.

Third meeting of the FTA Joint Committee, Auckland, New Zealand 30 May – 3 June 2011: Summary of Outcomes [PDF]

Second meeting of the FTA Joint Committee, Melbourne, Australia 23-24 November 2010: Summary of Outcomes [PDF]

First meeting of the FTA Joint Committee, Makati City, Philippines 25-26 May 2010: Summary of Outcomes [PDF]

AANZFTA also provides for an economic co-operation work programme (ECWP) to support implementation of the Agreement. Further information about the ECWP under AANZFTA can be found in the:

• Strategic Overview (August 2011)
• Guide to the Agreement [PDF]
• Economic co-operation fact sheet [PDF], and the
• AANZFTA Economic Co-operation Support Programme: Design Document (November 2009) [PDF].

Information on the work of the FTA Joint Committee can also be found on the AANZFTA website of the ASEAN Secretariat.

Impact of AANZFTA on Australian states and territories

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia

Background and fact sheets

• AANZFTA: Creating business opportunities
• Fast facts about AANZFTA
• History of the AANZFTA negotiations
• AANZFTA timeline
• Overview and key outcomes of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade presentation on AANZFTA for Austrade’s ASEAN Now seminar series, 15-30 October 2009
• Negotiating the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA - a conference paper, 21 July 2009 [PDF 74 KB]
• ASEAN economy fact sheet
• Joint Declaration of the Leaders of the ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Commemorative Summit to launch AANZFTA negotiations (November 2004)
• Guiding Principles for Negotiation on ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Area
• About ASEAN
• The Angkor Agenda: Report of the High Level Task Force on the AFTA-CER Free Trade Area 2000 [PDF 420 KB]
• Economic benefits from an AFTA-CER free trade area - Year 2000 study - Centre for International Economics [PDF 364 KB]

More about ASEAN

Contact us

For questions about AANZFTA not covered on this website, contact the Free Trade Agreement Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at:

• Email: asean.fta@dfat.gov.au
• Fax: (02) 6261 2187
• Mail:
  AANZFTA Enquiries
  Free Trade Agreement Division
  Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  R G Casey Building
  John McEwen Crescent
  BARTON ACT 0221

For media enquiries, please call DFAT's Media Liaison Section: (02) 6261 1555.