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Agreement entered into force 1 January 1983
Australia and New Zealand have one of the most open economic and trade relationships of any two countries. This is based on a comprehensive set of trade and economic arrangements, collectively known as Closer Economic Relations (CER), which underpin substantial flows of merchandise trade, services, investment, labour and visitors between the two countries.
The Australia and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1983, replacing the earlier New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement. This provided a basis on which the two governments have built an extensive array of agreements and arrangements, substantially extending CER and ensuring its continuing relevance to both countries.
Progress towards the comprehensive arrangement that exists today began in the 1980s with efforts to achieve integration through free trade in goods and services. Having achieved this by 1990, both countries moved progressively towards much deeper integration of policies, laws and regulatory regimes through processes of coordination, mutual recognition and harmonisation. This has been underpinned by frequent contact between Ministers and government agencies of both countries, by the closeness of the two societies through kinship, travel, business and social relationships and by the increasing integration of markets.
For more background information and relevant documents, please see the related resources.
The Investment Protocol to the New Zealand-Australia Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement was signed by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard on 16 February 2011 and entered into force on 1 March 2013. The Protocol maintains the status of CER as the highest quality free trade agreement that New Zealand or Australia has with any trading partner, widely recognised as the most comprehensive bilateral free trade agreement in the world.
The Agreement consists of:
Other Instruments
For further information or queries regarding the New Zealand-Australia Closer Economic Relations Investment Protocol contact: tplu@mfat.govt.nz.
