Most Favoured Nation
The NZ-China FTA includes a reciprocal Most Favoured Nation (MFN) provision covering the services in the following sectors:
- Construction services (for construction work for buildings, assembly and erection of prefabricated constructions, installation work and building completion and finishing work).
- Environmental services.
- Services incidental to agriculture and forestry (but limited to China's commitments made to the countries (including New Zealand) that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)).
- Engineering services.
- Integrated engineering services.
- Computer and related services.
- Tourism services.
The MFN provision means that exporters of these services will automatically receive the benefit of commitments that each country makes in future free trade agreements that are more liberal than those in the NZ-China FTA. This will help to ensure that each country's competitive position for the supply of services in the other country's market is not eroded. The 'most favoured nation' obligation does not apply to treatment granted by either country to third countries under any previous free trade agreement.
New Zealand and China have also agreed to ensure that their domestic measures affecting the trade in services are administered in a reasonable, objective and impartial manner.
Education
Education is New Zealand's single most important services export sector after tourism.
China has made a binding commitment to include on the China Ministry of Education "Study Abroad Website" the eight New Zealand universities, the 20 institutes of technology and polytechnics, Te Wananga o Aotearoa, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi and Te Wananga o Raukawa, and six degree conferring private training establishments duly approved and accredited by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
China has also agreed that both parties will jointly initiate work at the official level on the evaluation of the quality assurance criteria for qualifications that include a distance delivery component.
Both parties have agreed to establish a Joint Working Group to explore possibilities for mutual recognition of respective vocational qualifications.
- Page last updated: 03 December 2008
