Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement

New Zealand market snapshot

  • GDP: US$166.9 billion (2012)
  • GDP per capita: US$37,401 (2012)
  • GDP growth: 2.2 per cent (2012)
  • Population: 4.4 million (2011)
  • Trade with Australia: AU$21.713 billion (2012)

About ANZCERTA

The Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (known as ANZCERTA or the CER Agreement) is one of the most comprehensive bilateral free trade agreements in existence. It covers substantially all trans-Tasman trade in goods, including agricultural products, and was the first to include free trade in services.

The Agreement's central provision is the creation of a World Trade Organization (WTO)-consistent Free Trade Area encompassing Australia and New Zealand. Since ANZCERTA entered into force in 1983, the two way trade in goods between the two countries has expanded at an average annual growth rate of eight per cent.

ANZCERTA was the first of Australia's bilateral agreements and it has continued to grow and improve with new amendments added over the years.

Key interests and benefits

  • All tariffs and quantitative import or export restrictions on trade in goods originating in the Free Trade Area are prohibited under ANZCERTA.
  • Contains measures to minimise market distortions in trade in goods, including through domestic industry assistance and export subsidies and incentives.
  • The harmonisation of Trans-Tasman food standards through the ANZFA Agreement of 1995 means lower compliance costs for industry, fewer regulatory barriers, and more consumer choice.
  • Mutual recognition of goods and services removes technical barriers to trade and impediments to the movement of skilled personnel between jurisdictions without the need for complete harmonisation of standards and professional qualifications.

More about the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement

ANZCERTA signing

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Mr Lionel Bowen, and the New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia, Sir Laurie Francis, sign the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Agreement in Canberra on 28th March 1983.

Seated, Sir Laurie Francis, left, and Mr Lionel Bowen sign the agreement, watched by officials.

Photograph by BARRY LE LIEVRE

Map of New Zealand - quick facts

Map of New Zealand

Auckland

New Zealand's business centre and international trade hub.

Nelson

New Zealand's world-renowned wines from the Marlborough region are cheaper for Australian consumers under the ANZCERTA.

Queenstown

A popular adventure tourism destination for Australians, around 50,000 visit each year.

News

2012 CER Ministerial Forum: Joint Statement

Australian and New Zealand Ministers met in Canberra on 15 November 2012 for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Ministerial Meeting. Australia's delegation was led by Minister for Trade and Competitiveness and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Asian Century Policy, the Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP. New Zealand's delegation was led by Minister of Trade and Minister for Climate Change Issues, Hon Tim Groser.

2012 CER Ministerial Forum Communiqué 15 November 2012

2013 Australia-New Zealand Leaders' Meeting

Queenstown, NZ

Prime Ministers John Key and Julia Gillard met in Queenstown on 9 February 2013 for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders' meeting, reaffirming their strong commitment to the closest possible relations between Australia and New Zealand.

They reiterated their expressions of deep sympathy for the victims of the floods and fires in Australia and noted that helping each other in times of need had become hallmarks of the bilateral partnership. Prime Ministers welcomed good progress made in Christchurch's recovery following the terrible earthquake of 2011.

Joint Statement by Prime Ministers Key and Gillard: February 2013

Documents

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

Guide to the CER

Closer Economic Relations - Background Guide to the Australia New Zealand Economic Relationship - February 1997

Trade in goods

Trade in services

Protocol on investment

The Regulatory Environment for Business

Government Assistance and Purchasing

Communiqués

More about New Zealand

 

For business

This guide explains how businesses take advantage of the greater flexibility, wider choice and lower compliance costs as a result of mutual recognition and harmonisation standards set out in the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement.

Users Guide to the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement (May 1998) [PDF 347 KB]

More information about the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement is available from the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) website.

Doing business in New Zealand

Austrade has identified potential opportunities for Australian suppliers of goods and services in a number of sectors. Austrade's New Zealand country page supplies general information on doing business and on specific export opportunities. The Austrade website has a database that can be searched by industry.

Australian exporters seeking to access new opportunities under the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement may wish to obtain more information on rules of origin and other requirements from the Australian Customs Service.

ANZCERTA – its genesis and the present

The first trade agreement between Australia and New Zealand dates back to 1922 which essentially stated that each party would trade with the other. This was followed by the Australia New Zealand Trade Agreement in 1933, by which the two countries gave each other preferences and some special rates of duty. A partial free trade treaty, the New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), entered into force in 1966, leading to the removal of tariffs and quantitative restrictions on 80 per cent of trans-Tasman trade by the late-1970s. Because NAFTA was not structured to address the changing international economic environment and because it lacked an effective mechanism for removing remaining restrictions, Australia and New Zealand agreed to develop a more open bilateral trading system.

The Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) was signed on 28 March 1983 and has become the cornerstone of the trade and economic relationship. It has been recognised in the WTO as among the world's most comprehensive, effective and multilaterally compatible free trade agreement, covering substantially all trans-Tasman trade in goods, including agricultural products, and services. The objectives of ANZCERTA are to:

  • strengthen the broader relationship between Australia and New Zealand;
  • develop closer economic relations between the Member States through a mutually beneficial expansion of free trade between New Zealand and Australia;
  • eliminate barriers to trade between Australia and New Zealand in a gradual and progressive manner under an agreed timetable and with a minimum of disruption
  • develop trade between New Zealand and Australia under conditions of fair competition.

Since 1 July 1990, all goods meeting ANZCERTA Rules of Origin criteria can be traded across the Tasman free of duty and quantitative import restrictions.

The Trade in Services Protocol brought services into ANZCERTA from January 1989 allowing most services to be traded free of restriction across the Tasman, too.

ANZCERTA has underpinned a strong growth in trade across the Tasman with annual growth in two-way trade averaging 8.4% over the life of the agreement. Total two-way trade totalled around $21.5 billion in 2007) making New Zealand Australia's seventh largest trading partner and the fifth largest for merchandise trade.

Over the 25 years of CER, the composition of trade between Australia and New Zealand has changed dramatically, reflecting changes in technology, competitiveness, domestic industry structure, trade liberalisation and consumer demand. New Zealand is the principal export market for Australia's manufactured products; equivalent to around 13 per cent of Australia's total exports of manufactured products.

ANZCERTA forms the foundation of a broader economic and trade relationship with New Zealand. It is supplemented by more than 80 government-to-government bilateral treaties, protocols and other arrangements - covering trade and the movement of people, aviation, business law coordination, mutual recognition of goods and professions, taxation, health care, social security, food standards and government procurement.

With most of the trade goals now met, the CER work program focuses on "third generation" trade facilitation issues aimed at fostering closer economic integration through regulatory harmonisation and the creation of a more favourable climate for trans-Tasman business collaboration. Australian and New Zealand Governments now are taking a strategic approach to shaping and guiding a Single Economic Market (SEM) to enable business, consumers and investors to conduct operations across the Tasman in a seamless regulatory environment.

The key focus is on reducing transaction costs, lessening compliance costs and uncertainty, and increasing competition. Significant progress in most areas of business and financial harmonisation has been made. The work is technically complex, conducted in a continually evolving international financial and business environment both to ensure each country's economy is harmonised both to facilitate business transactions across the Tasman and to maximise each country's international competitiveness. Progress on the SEM agenda means that the cost of doing business across the Tasman will continue to fall.

Contact us

Requests for information, advice or comments on the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement should be addressed to:

  • Mail:
    Director, New Zealand Section
    Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
    RG Casey Building
    John McEwen Crescent
    Barton ACT 0221
  • Phone: +61 2 6261 3769
  • Fax: +61 2 6261 2248

For media enquiries please call DFAT Media Liaison Section on (02) 6261 1555.