Australia and the United Kingdom have signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), which will help ensure the continued flow of trade post-Brexit.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham, said the agreement would ensure arrangements already in place between Australia and the European Union for Australia’s exports continued to apply for the UK post-Brexit.
“This will mean Australian exporters can continue to benefit from existing arrangements for mutual recognition as they do currently, even if the UK leaves the EU without an agreement,” Minister Birmingham said.
“These agreements provide assurances to Australian exporters that they will be able to get their goods into the UK post-Brexit whether it be wine, medical devices or automotive parts without additional trade barriers or regulations.”
“They are a significant and necessary step in our post-Brexit preparations, where we want to minimise disruptions to trade flows and provide as much certainty to Australian exporters as we can,” Mr Birmingham added.
Mr Birmingham further detailed the Australian Government’s commitment to securing a comprehensive free trade agreement with the UK ‘as soon as they are in a position to do so’, which would further boost trade flows between the two countries.
Presently the UK is our seventh largest two-way trading partner, worth $27.8 billion in 2017-18, and Australia’s third largest services trading partner (according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, also commented that the MRA would ensure Australia and the UK continue to recognise the test reports and certificates issued by each other’s designated conformity assessment bodies.
“The Mutual Recognition Agreement will help facilitate trade flows between both countries, guaranteeing continuity of the existing mutual recognition arrangements post-Brexit,” Minister Andrews shared.
“For Australian businesses, this will eliminate the cost and time of duplicative testing or the need for re-certification when their products arrive in the other country’s market.”