CER Ministers to Meet

International Trade Minister Lockwood Smith will meet with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Tim Fischer and Primary Industries Minister John Anderson for annual CER talks this week.

The talks will cover issues including the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement (TTMRA), access for apples, salmon and other products and business law harmonisation.

Other subjects to be discussed are prospects for working more closely on quarantine and biosecurity issues and possibilities for further liberalisation of the Services Protocol.

"Tim Fischer and I will also talk about how we can make the most of the very close relationship Australia and New Zealand already enjoy in regional and multilateral forums such as APEC and the WTO.

"APEC and WTO are a major focus for both countries," Dr Smith said. "We will also talk about linkages with other free trade areas such as the ASEAN Free Trade Area, or AFTA."

Dr Smith said the ministers would be thinking about the past as well as current issues.

"CER will be 15 years old next year," he said. "When we reflect on that, we can feel pretty proud of what both countries have achieved."

Australia is New Zealand's largest market for exports and biggest source of imports, while New Zealand is Australia's third largest export market and largest for manufactured goods. Two-way trade was worth NZ$9.4 billion in the year to June 1997.

Dr Smith will meet Trade Minister Fischer, Primary Industries Minister Anderson and Parliamentary Secretary to the Trade Minister Senator David Brownhill in Canberra on September 24 and 25.