Trade ministers commit to closer New Zealand, Australia integration

Trade ministers of New Zealand and Australia agreed Friday to continue moving toward a single economic market (SEM).

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser and Australian Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb issued a communique after holding talks in Auckland reaffirming their commitment to trans-Tasman integration.

Their meeting was an annual forum to discuss the bilateral Closer Economic Relations (CER) free trade agreement, signed 32 years ago, and to drive the SEM by eliminating trade barriers, reducing business costs and increasing investment.

The communique announced that work of business law harmonization, which began in 2009, would be completed this year.

Since last year's meeting, the two countries had standardized consumer credit requirements and enforcement regimes, and ensured that investors and users of financial products received comparable disclosures on both sides of the Tasman.

Ongoing work included aligning qualifications frameworks for students and skilled labor, reviewing tax arrangements, and a review of the CER Protocol on Trade in Services to test whether there was scope for further liberalizing trans-Tasman trade in services.

The high level of economic integration and importance of the bilateral economic relationship were reflected by increasing trade and investment figures, said the communique.

Australia was New Zealand's largest overall trading partner in goods and services and New Zealand was Australia's sixth largest overall trading partner, with two-way goods and services trade in the year ending June 2014 worth 23.9 billion NZ dollars (18 billion U.S. dollars).

The tourism market was a vital part of the services trade, with around 1.2 million visitors in each direction in the year to June 2014. Enditem