Free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand
22-05-2018
byBeau van den Berg/April 9, 2026/atFamily News
The free trade agreement
On May 22, 2018, EU trade ministers gave the go-ahead for negotiations on free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will travel to the capitals of Canberra and Wellington in the coming weeks for the official start of the talks.
The Netherlands favors "broad and ambitious" trade agreements with both countries.
The following topics are covered in the negotiations:
- trade in goods
- veterinary and phytosanitary measures;
- intellectual property rights;
- government procurement;
- sustainable development;
- technical trade barriers;
- (renewable) energy;
- trade in services;
- competition;
- customs and trade facilitation;
- trade measures;
- transparency
The consequence of this free trade agreement will be the elimination of import duties in trade between the EU and the said countries.
The effective date will take some time, but it has not yet been announced. Usually such negotiations take quite some time. You can certainly count on 18 months.
Should we be able to report more in the meantime, we will certainly keep you informed.
