South East Asia Ease on Trade Rules

Economic Ministers from ASEAN countries, Australia and New Zealand came together on the 26th August 2014 and signed the First Protocol to Amend the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN – Australia- New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).

This new protocol will benefit importers and exporters by loosening the trade and customs rules between Australasia and South East Asia. Over the past decade the trade between the ASEAN countries and Australia had doubled to US$68 billion, and New Zealand has increased over 6% year on year.

The first protocol will:

• reduce the required information on origin documentation
• consolidate the rules of origin into one place
• simplify the rules of origin by removing a set of product specific rules
• streamline the administration process for future changes to the AANZFTA
• remove the requirement of value from certificates of origin from free-on-board shipments

The amended AANZFTA is expected to further increase the trade relations between the countries. The agreement is expected to come into effect on the 31 March 2015 to allow all the formalities to be processed by the associated parties

You will find further information on the ASEAN website