The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia-NewZealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA)

Overview
Key outcomes for agricultural products
Rules of Origin

Overview

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Australia – New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) entered into force on 1 January 2010 for eight of the 12 countries that signed the Agreement. In addition to Australia and New Zealand, the Agreement entered into force for Brunei, Burma, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. Entry into force for Thailand occurred in March 2010. Entry into force for Cambodia and Laos occurred in March 2011. The agreement entered into force for Indonesia on 10 January 2012.

The Agreement establishing the AANZFTA was signed by the Minister for Trade and his ASEAN and New Zealand counterparts, on 27 February 2009 in Hua Hin, Thailand.

AANZFTA is the first plurilateral, or multicountry, free trade agreement Australia has concluded. Australia stands to gain from this agreement across many sectors, including exports of industrial goods, agricultural products and services.

AANZFTA contains substantial tariff reduction and elimination commitments. It also contains commitments in services which will provide commercially meaningful benefits to Australian business.

The Agreement creates new and improved opportunities for the Australian agri-food sector, including for:

• Meat and livestock
• Dairy products
• Fish
• Grains
• Horticulture
• Sugar
• Wine and spirits
• Wool and cotton
• Wood and wood products

Key outcomes for agricultural products:

Key outcomes for agri-food and forest products exports of Australian origin (see also Rules of Origin) include:

Meat and livestock: existing liberal access for live bovine animals will be guaranteed through tariffs bound at 0 per cent or phased to 0 per cent or 2.5 per cent. Tariffs on most meat tariff lines bound at 0 per cent on entry-into-force (EIF) or phased to 0 per cent, although some lines are subject to tariff reductions only, and a few lines are excluded from tariff commitments in some countries.

Dairy products: tariffs on all tariff lines bound at 0 per cent on EIF or phased to 0 per cent, except for 7 lines in Indonesia that will be phased to 4 per cent, 2 lines in the Philippines that will be phased to 5 per cent, and 3 lines (liquid milk) in Malaysia subject to improved tariff quota access.

Fish: tariffs on the majority of tariff lines bound at 0 per cent or phased to 0 per cent, with tariffs on remaining lines mainly reduced to 5 per cent or less.

Grains: for most products tariffs bound at 0 per cent on EIF or phased to 0 per cent. Rice is excluded from tariff commitments by Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Maize is excluded from tariff commitments by Indonesia.

Horticulture: Fruit and nuts: tariffs on most products phased to 0 per cent, with the major exceptions being mandarins and mangoes in Indonesia (only modest tariff reductions) and a range of tropical fruits in Malaysia (reduced to 5 per cent).

Vegetables: tariffs on all products phased to 0 per cent in Malaysia and Vietnam. Tariffs on most products phased to 0 per cent in Indonesia and the Philippines, but there will only be modest reductions on some products with high tariffs (including potatoes and carrots in Indonesia; potatoes, celery, carrots, cauliflowers, broccoli and lettuce in the Philippines), and a few other products phase to 5 per cent or less. Tariffs on fruit and vegetable juices; prepared and processed fruit and vegetables and nuts: are bound at 0 per cent on EIF or phased to 0 per cent.

Sugar: Malaysia will bind its tariffs at 0 per cent on EIF, while Vietnam will reduce its in-quota and out-quota tariffs progressively from 2010 to 2022. Indonesia and the Philippines have excluded sugar from their tariff commitments.

Wine and spirits: the Philippines will phase all tariffs to 0 per cent by 2015, and Vietnam will reduce its tariffs in 2022. Indonesia and Malaysia have excluded wine and spirits from tariff commitments.

Wood and wood products: for wood, tariffs on the majority of tariff lines will be bound at 0 per cent or phased to 0 per cent. For pulp and paper, tariffs will be eliminated on all tariff lines in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and for the majority of tariff lines in Vietnam, with tariffs on remaining lines phased to 5 per cent.

Wool and cotton: tariffs on all tariff lines bound at 0 per cent on EIF or phased to 0 per cent.

Further information on the AANZFTA including the full text of the agreement is available from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.