Overview: The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA)
The AANZFTA is a comprehensive and single-undertaking free trade agreement that opens up and creates new opportunities for approximately 663 million peoples of ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand - a region with a combined Gross Domestic Product of approximately USD 4 trillion as of 2016. In line with the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 , the AANZFTA aims for sustainable economic growth in the region by providing a more liberal, facilitative and transparent market and investment regimes among the twelve signatories to the Agreement.
Through the AANZFTA:
- tariffs will be progressively reduced from entry into force of the Agreement, and eliminated for at least 90% of all tariff lines within specified timelines;
- movement of goods will be facilitated via a more modern and flexible rules of origin, simplified customs procedures, and more transparent mechanisms;
- barriers to trade in services will be progressively liberalised allowing for greater market access to service suppliers in the region;
- movement of business persons, those engaged in trade and investment activities, will be facilitated; and
- covered investments will be accorded a range of protection, including the possibility of dealing with disputes via an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism.
The twelve AANZFTA Parties include:
- Australia
- Brunei Darussalam
- Cambodia
- Indonesia
- Lao PDR
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Viet Nam