AANZFTA Scoping Study on Full Cumulation

The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) has recently been amended to introduce the concept of full cumulation. To support the implementation of the upgraded Agreement by ASEAN Member States (AMS), the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies was engaged to undertake a scoping study and present its findings to a workshop held in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month. 

The study involved a series of meetings with officials from all ten AMS responsible for implementing cumulation. These generated a wide range of views and identified particular aspects that would merit further discussion, including policies and procedures relating to origin verification, issuance of Certificates of Origin, the way in which opt in/opt out provisions may work in practice, and industry consultation.

The resulting report and feedback from the Workshop provided a baseline to inform the development of training activities and other initiatives that will support implementation of full cumulation under the upgraded AANZFTA during 2024.