AANZFTA > Fast Facts about the ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand FTA

The ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement

Fast Facts about ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand FTA

The AANZFTA Parties comprise the ten ASEAN members (Burma, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) together with Australia and New Zealand.
By including provisions covering trade in goods and services, together with investment, intellectual property, competition and economic cooperation, AANZFTA becomes the most comprehensive FTA that ASEAN has negotiated.
AANZFTA provides for the progressive reduction or elimination of tariffs over specified periods and the scheduling of market access commitments for services by each of the parties.
AANZFTA allows for greater certainty and transparency for those trading and investing in the region.
First time for Australia in an FTA that economic cooperation has been included to help AANZFTA Parties implement their obligations. A work program will be carried out over five years with an estimated cost of $20-25 million. Australia is prepared to make an appropriate funding contribution to this cost.
The level of development of ASEAN members is reflected in differential time frames for implementing certain FTA commitments.

Australia and New Zealand will typically have the shortest implementation time frames and the three Least Developed Country members (Burma, Cambodia and Laos) the longest.

Australia has existing FTAs with Singapore and Thailand. Australia has commenced FTA negotiations with Malaysia, and has a long-standing comprehensive FTA with New Zealand (ANZCERTA). The provisions of AANZFTA ensure that it can have no impact on those existing FTAs.

The FTA strengthens Australia’s economic and strategic engagement with the ASEAN region.
The FTA will deliver real commercial benefit for Australian exporters and investors.
AANZFTA provides a platform for securing further liberalisation of trade and investment in the future.
The FTA helps to grow Australia’s trade and investment relationships.

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