Newsletter
Agreement between New Zealand and Taiwan on Economic Cooperation
The Office of Trade Negotiations, Ministry of Economic Affairs recently announced that the "Agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation" (hereinafter referred to as "ANZTEC") signed on 10 July 2013 will be effective on 1 December 2013. The ANZTEC covers a wild range, not only those trade issues covered by the WTO, such as trade in goods, trade in services and intellectual property, but also other WTO-plus issues, such as film and TV co-production and indigenous issues. According to the chapter of film and TV co-production, in the case of Taiwan film makers co-producing movies with any film maker of New Zealand, such movies, with the approval of the competent authority, may be simultaneously entitled to the preferential treatment for domestic films from both of the countries.
After ANZTEC comes into force, more than 400 agricultural products imported from New Zealand will be entitled to zero tariffs in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 year stages; besides, liquid milk and deer velvet will be subject to tariff quotas and reduced to zero tariffs after 12 years. The industrial products to be exported from Taiwan will be entitled to zero tariffs on 1 January 2014, except for 29 items which will not be reduced zero tariffs until 4 years later. In addition, our Country will open up the field of education to New Zealand to run for-profit international schools and to recruit foreign students in Taiwan. There is also an open sky agreement under the ANZTEC; it is expected that after the Agreement takes effect, flights between Taiwan and New Zealand will be increased and the prices of the tickets may be lowered.
ANZTEC is the first economic cooperation agreement/free trade agreement that we entered into with a country which we have no diplomatic relations with. In addition, this is of great significance to Taiwan because New Zealand is an advanced country and a member of several international trade organizations. It is hoped that Taiwan will enter into more similar agreements with our major trading partners and to strengthen the economic cooperation between Taiwan and other countries.