Australia-Trade Agreement with 10 Asian countries.

The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) was signed in Thailand on Friday 27 February 2009, concluding a negotiating process that commenced in March 2005.

The AANZFTA parties comprise of the ten ASEAN members (Burma, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) together with Australia and New Zealand.

AANZFTA will cover an area with a combined population of 600 million and GDP in 2008 estimated at A$3.2 trillion. It is the largest and first multi-country FTA that Australia has signed.

ASEAN is a significant trading partner for Australian livestock and red meat. In 2008, Australia exported 686,029 live cattle, 79,355 live goats, 63,862 tonnes swt of beef, 6,685 tonnes of lamb, 14,646 tonnes of mutton, 266 tonnes of goat meat and 27,913 tonnes of offal to ASEAN member countries.

Details of the tariff reductions applicable to red meat and livestock in each country will be available shortly on www.dfat.gov.au