Moving forward

The ASEAN FTA recognises the importance of establishing a framework to directly support implementation of the Agreement and to enable maximum commercial benefit to be derived from it.

Joint Committee

The ASEAN FTA establishes an "FTA Joint Committee" to review the implementation and operation of the FTA and recommend any amendments to it. The FTA Joint Committee has now met three times in the Philippines (May 2010), Australia (November 2010) and New Zealand (May 2011).  It will meet for the fourth time in Brunei in May 2012.

In addition to the FTA Joint Committee, a number of specialist committees are also established under the ASEAN FTA to facilitate the ongoing interaction of experts, including a Committee on Trade in Goods, a sub-Committee on ROO, a sub-Committee on SPS Matters, a sub-Committee on technical barriers to trade, a Committee on Trade in Services, an Investment Committee and an Intellectual Property Committee.

These committees review and monitor the operation of their respective specialist areas, provide a forum to discuss any problems that might arise in the implementation of the Agreement and identify prospects for future joint coordination and strengthening of links. The requirement to convene each committee varies between the specialist areas.  All committees apart from the Committee on Trade in Services have now been established.

Another major advantage of the committee process is the ability for NZ companies to ensure that concerns that they may have could be communicated through official channels to the government of the country in question.  The committee process is a measure to be used when company to company avenues cannot deal with the matter or concern.

Cooperation

An important part of the ASEAN FTA is the creation of a framework for trade and investment economic cooperation designed to enable maximum commercial benefit to be derived from it.  The main objective of economic cooperation is to assist ASEAN countries come to terms with the technical requirements needed to implement the commitments made during negotiations and embodied in the treaty.  Such activities are beneficial to New Zealand companies as they allow ASEAN officials, particularly border officials, to understand the business values of New Zealand companies.

An economic cooperation work programme that focuses on the provision of implementation support and capacity building in the following mutually agreed areas is now well underway:

• ROO and other Aspects of Implementation of Tariff Commitments;
• SPS Measures;
• Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures;
• Services;
• Investment;
• Intellectual Property;
• Sectoral Integration
• Competition; and
• Customs.

Review

A general review of the ASEAN FTA will take place in 2016, and every five years thereafter. This review provides the opportunity to accelerate or expand the commitments under the ASEAN FTA.

Contact

Further information about the implementation of this agreement can be obtained from New Zealand's AANZFTA Implementation Contact:

Steve McCombie

FTA Implementation Unit Head

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)

steve.mccombie@mfat.govt.nz

For information on ROO and customs procedures, please contact the International Manager, New Zealand Customs Service on:

tradepolicy@customs.govt.nz

or visit the NZ Customs Service website on www.customs.govt.nz