Fast-tracked customs processing at Australian and New Zealand borders under a new arrangement between the two countries will benefit trusted Trans-Tasman exporters.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection and New Zealand Customs Service (NZ Customs) signed a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) last Friday, recognising the supply chain security programmes of both countries.
Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg, and NZ Customs Comptroller, Carolyn Tremain, met at the World Customs Organization’s sessions in Brussels to sign the MRA.
Quaedvlieg says the arrangement would benefit members of the Australian Trusted Trader (ATT) programme and the NZ Customs Secure Export Scheme (SES).
“We anticipate that the MRA will allow $3 billion of New Zealand exports to Australia to be fast-tracked,” says Quaedvlieg.
“As we increase membership of the ATT programme, we expect that $7.5 billion of Australian exports to New Zealand will benefit from the MRA by 2020,” he says.
“The MRA provides benefits to trusted traders of both countries and provides border agencies greater end-to-end assurance of imports and exports,” says Quaedvlieg.
“Reducing the regulatory duplication between the two schemes will make it easier for Australian and New Zealand businesses to trade with each other and boost the international competitiveness of both countries,” he says.
Tremain says the two agencies already work closely together, and this arrangement will provide further assurance over trans-Tasman trade for both countries.
“The MRA means New Zealand’s Secure Export Scheme members will benefit from a faster and smoother border experience with our closest neighbour, and gives traders on both sides of the Tasman a competitive advantage,” says Tremain.
