The Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, commonly known as Closer Economic Relations (CER), is a

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

agreement between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It came into force on 1 January 1983, but the actual treaty was not signed until 28 March 1983 by the

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy Chief executive officer, chief executive and the Deputy prime minister, second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially creat ...

and Minister for Trade, Lionel Bowen and the New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia,

Laurie Francis Sir Laurie Justice Francis (30 August 1918 – 3 August 1993) was a New Zealand lawyer and diplomat. He served as the List of high commissioners of New Zealand to Australia, New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia from 1976 to 1984. Biograph ...

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, Australia. This was because Malcolm Fraser and Robert Muldoon hated each other personally to such an extent that they refused to ratify the agreement if the other was there.

Overview

CER built on the earlier New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was signed on 31 August 1965 and came into force on 1 January 1966. NAFTA had removed four-fifths of the

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

s between the two countries and quantitative restrictions on trade across the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

. However, it came to be seen as too complex and bureaucratic, and in March 1980, a joint Prime Ministerial communiqué was released that called for "closer economic relations". The two major sticking points in the negotiations were New Zealand's wish for better access for its

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s in Australia and Australia's wish for New Zealand to remove export incentives and quantitative restrictions. After the two hurdles were overcome, the Heads of Agreement was signed on 14 December 1982 and came into force on 1 January of the following year. One of the most important results of CER was the Protocol on the Acceleration of Free Trade in Goods, which resulted in the total elimination of tariffs or quantitative restrictions between the two countries by 1 July 1990, five years ahead of schedule. Other parts of CER include: *A good that can be legally sold in one country can also be legally sold in the other. Anyone registered to practise an occupation in one country may practise in the other (with some exemptions including medical practitioners) *Service providers may provide services in either country (except in certain areas such as airway services) The CER is complementary to the

Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) is an arrangement between Australia and New Zealand which allows for the free movement of citizens of one of these countries to the other. The arrangement came into effect in 1973, and allows citizens of ...

Future prospects

Addressing the New Zealand Parliament in February 2011, Australian Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

said:

References

Full text of Australian PM's address to the Parliament of NZ
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050906142746/http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/new_zealand/anz_cer_20years/index.html A Celebration of Trans-Tasman Relationsfrom the Australian

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

.
The Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Agreement: 1983 – 2003 Backgrounder
from New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Closer Economic Relations (CER)
from StudyOz (Australian High Commission in New Zealand). {{Australia–New Zealand relations Trade blocs Economy of New Zealand Economy of Australia Free trade agreements of New Zealand Free trade agreements of Australia Treaties concluded in 1983 Treaties entered into force in 1983 Australia–New Zealand relations 1983 in Australian law 1983 in New Zealand 1983 in New Zealand law Bilateral treaties of Australia Bilateral treaties of New Zealand

Overview

Future prospects

See also

References