PRIME MINISTER: S. 29/ 9'
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON PJ1 KEATING MP
PROPOSED TRANS-TASMAN MUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENT
I am pleased to announce today a decision by the Council of Australian
Governments ( COAG) to release, in conjunction with the New Zealand
Government, a discussion paper on ' A Proposal for the Trans-Tasman Mutual
Recognition of Standards for Goods and Occupations'.
The objective of the proposed scheme is to reduce regulatory barriers to the
trans-Tasman trade of goods and movement of people practising registered
occupations. The release of the discussion paper marks the commencement
of a public consultation period lasting until 31 July.
One of the early initiatives of COAG was the signing of the Mutual
Recognition Agreement ( MRA) in May 1992.
The MRA was a significant reform for Australia. For the first time, an
enterprise could sell its products anywhere in Australia without having to
comply with a range of different State regulations relating to product
standards, testing and certification, packaging and labelling.
In many instances, this has led to reductions in compliance costs and
increased economies of scale for business as well as greater choice for
consumers. Similarly, a person registered to practise an occupation in one State or
Territory is now able to obtain automatic registration to practise an equivalent
occupation in any other, without having to go through the whole registration
process again.
A Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement would extend the application
of mutual recognition to New Zealand, leading to benefits for Australian and
New Zealand businesses, consumers and service providers.
Tariff barriers having been eliminated between Australia and New Zealand
under the Closer Economic Relations ( CER) Trade Agreement, a mutual
recognition agreement would reduce barriers to trade arising out of divergent
regulations and standards.
For Australian business, a TTMRA will create a market of over 20 million
people in which they can sell their goods free of tariffs and regulatory barriers
to trade.
Initiatives to support the reduction of regulatory barriers to trade are being
considered by APEC.
A Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement would put Australia and New
Zealand at the forefront of reducing regulatory barriers to trade and set a
positive example to other APEC members as to what is achievable.
CANBERRA 11 April 1995