Agreement in Principle for NZ-UK Free Trade Agreement

New Zealand and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement in principle in their Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

Finalisation of the legal text of the more substantive free trade agreement underlying the agreement in principle is expected to happen within the next couple of weeks. Officials will then perform a national interest analysis of the agreement and Cabinet will use that report to decide whether to sign the agreement. Following signature the usual legislative process involving select committees and production of implementing regulations will occur with final ratification of the agreement occurring once both countries have enabled the agreed changes to take effect.

Intellectual property is specifically covered in section 16 of the agreement in principle. Notable changes that this will require to be made to New Zealand’s intellectual property laws are as follows:

• extending the copyright term by 20 years (from 50 years) for authors, performers and producers, with implementation required within 15 years of entry into force of the FTA;
• introducing an artist’s resale right scheme within 2 years of entry into force of the FTA and operate it on a reciprocal basis with the UK;
• extending the public performance right for performers to cover communication to the public of phonograms;
• making all reasonable efforts to join the Hague Agreement on Industrial Designs;
• no other commitments in the IP chapter of the FTA will require changes to IP regulatory settings and will not affect the cost of medicine in New Zealand (or the UK).

The FTA also specifies a conditional commitment by New Zealand that if New Zealand’s geographical indications legislation is extended in a bespoke fashion to recognise agricultural products that this will also be done for the UK. This conditional provision is on account of the on-going negotiations for an EU-NZ FTA, and will be reviewed within two years of entry into force of the FTA if no such bespoke changes have been made.

Reflecting their importance to New Zealand, including Māori, the chapter will include provisions on genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional culture expression that:

• recognise the relevance of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources to IP systems;
• provide for consideration of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources in patent examination processes;
• commit both countries to working together to promote multilateral outcomes on these issues at the World Intellectual Property Office Inter-Governmental Committee (WIPO IGC); and provide for review of these provisions in the FTA (including within 2 years of entry into force if no international instrument has been adopted at WIPO).

Along with the agreed elimination or phased elimination of tariffs, other notable non-IP provision that both parties will commit to are:

• efficient low-cost rules of origin including setting weight based and value based thresholds for non-originating products and ensuring that sufficient production or processing occurs within the relevant exporting country;
• ensuring technical barriers to trade are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade;
• liberalising cross-border trade in services by making it easier for services companies to trade and for professionals to operate in each other’s economies including by not having a physical presence requirement and providing efficient and transparent routes to recognition for professionals with qualifications obtained in the other country.

Author: Quinn Miller

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