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AANZFTA Implementation and Governance

A Free Trade Area Joint Committee (FJC) was established as an oversight and supervisory body on the implementation and operation of the AANZFTA.  It is composed of senior officials from the twelve Parties.

The FJC is supported by additional subsidiary bodies assigned to perform specific undertakings, including planning and implementing their respective Economic Cooperation Work Program (ECWP). The AANZFTA subsidiary bodies include:

  • Committee on Trade in Goods
    • Sub-Committee on Rules of Origin
    • Sub-Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
    • Sub-Committee on Standards, Technical Regulation, and Conformity Assessment
  • Committee on Trade in Services
  • Committee on Investment
  • Competition Committee
  • Intellectual Property Committee
  • Ad-hoc Economic Cooperation Sub-Committee

In addition, the Parties agreed to establish an AANZFTA Support Unit (ASU), housed within the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), to support the ASEC and the AANZFTA Parties in the implementation and monitoring of the AANZFTA Economic Cooperation Support Program (AECSP).  Among other tasks, the ASU is mainly responsible for implementing the AECSP, tracking its progress against the AANZFTA objectives and providing information that will assist the FJC in making and implementing decisions. The ASU liaises closely with the ASEC focal divisions in the conceptualisation, design, implementation, monitoring, and completion of projects across the various ECWP components supported by the AECSP.

Visit the AECSP Overview page.


Built-in Agenda

The AANZFTA provides for a built-in agenda that Parties will continue to work on and prioritise implementation within a specified period following the entry into force of the AANZFTA. The built-in agenda is a set of priorities covering the seven key sectors and economic cooperation under the AANZFTA.



General Review

The AANZFTA also provides for a General Review that shall be undertaken by 2016 and every five years thereafter. At the 21st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting – Closer Economic Relations Consultations in August 2016, economic ministers agreed that the General Review of the AANZFTA be conducted in 2017. Click here for more information about the AANZFTA General Review