Abstract
Australia and New Zealand have one of the world’s closest economic relationships between two independent states. The foundation of the modern economic relationship is the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA). Since ANZCERTA was signed in 1983, it has been supplemented by more than eighty government-to-government bilateral treaties, protocols and other arrangements. One particularly interesting arrangement is the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement (TTMRA). Signed in 1996, the TTMRA allows Australians and New Zealanders in a wide range of occupations requiring registration (such as doctors and engineers) to legally work in each other’s countries so long as they have fulfilled any applicable registration requirements in their home jurisdiction. It also allows importers and producers of goods, with a small number of exceptions, to sell those goods in both countries on the basis of their lawful entitlement to do so in one of them. The TTMRA has been the subject of considerable interest internationally as an example of a successful arrangement leading to reduced barriers to trade in goods and ease of movement of persons. This Article explores to what extent lessons can be drawn from its success that might be applicable to other countries.