Media release
Tuesday 27 August 2002 - MVT102/2002date place
Vaile and Sutton to Talk Trans-Tasman Trade
Talks in New Zealand later this week will aim to strengthen more
than 100 years of trade ties between Australia and New Zealand, Trade
Minister Mark Vaile said today.
Mr Vaile will hold discussions with his New Zealand counterpart,
the Minister for Trade Negotiations, Jim Sutton, on 29 and 30 August
at the annual Australian and New Zealand Trade Ministers' Meeting
to be held in Christchurch.
"Australia and New Zealand have been trading partners for more than
100 years and I am keen build on our existing level of trade ties,"
Mr Vaile said.
"The Closer Economic Relations (CER) Agreement, signed in 1983, between
Australia and New Zealand is undoubtedly the best example in the world
of a comprehensive free trade agreement. Trade between our two countries
has grown at an average rate of 12 per cent per annum over the last
10 years, exceeding our annual average growth rate of eight per cent
with the rest of the world."
"Our two Governments are working hard to improve two-way trade between
Australia and New Zealand under the CER.
"We have secured joint recognition of occupations and goods standards
under the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement (TTMRA) and created
the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (FSANZ) in July 2002. We
also plan to establish a Joint Therapeutics Goods Agency later this
year.
"Our discussions will also address important bilateral issues such
as bio-security, science and innovation."
Mr Vaile said major global and regional trade developments will also
be high on the agenda for discussions.
"I will also take the opportunity to raise the upcoming WTO Mini-Ministerial
Meeting to be held in Sydney in November, and to discuss other issues
of importance to our two countries as members of the Cairns Group
of agricultural exporting nations and APEC.
Representatives from the dairy and information and communications
sectors will accompany Mr Vaile. These delegations will meet with
their New Zealand counterparts for discussions on how the sectors
can work together to forge a greater presence in the global market.
"Australia has strong and positive relations with the New Zealand.
As our 5th largest export destination and with two way
investment exceeding $32 billion, New Zealand is a very important
trade and investment partner."
The last Australian and New Zealand Trade Ministers' Meeting was
held in the Hunter Valley on 15 -16 August 2001.
Two way trade with New Zealand has expanded 500 per cent since the
introduction of the CER. In 2000-2001 bilateral trade was worth $15.8
billion.
Media Contact: Mark Croxford +61 02 6277 7420
Local Date:
Friday, 05-Dec-2008 14:07:37 EST
