"Today marks the 40th anniversary of Australia's most successful and enduring free trade agreement, the 1983 Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA or CER). However, there is a risk that the agreement may wither on the vine if insufficient attention continues to be given to maintaining the regulatory coherence that has been the key to our successful economic integration," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.
"We encourage both nations to recognise the importance of joint Australian and New Zealand standards that underpin trade and to work with the standards bodies on both sides of the Tasman to reverse the declining trend of shared standards making.
"Development of innovative approaches to collaborative resourcing between the standards bodies to reduce costs barriers would go a long way to address this problem.
"As both nations wrestle with electrical product regulatory alignment, Ai Group calls on regulators in both countries to work closely to ensure that manufacturers and suppliers can seamlessly provide products without encountering unnecessary technical barriers that only increase the cost to the consumer.
"The reviews of the NSW Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act and of New Zealand's rules for electrical compliance provide policy makers an ideal opportunity to achieve this.
"The two markets are too small for divergent regulatory schemes and businesses and consumers are negatively impacted with higher prices and/or reduced product options," Mr Willox said.
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