The UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand FTAs Have Entered into Force

On 31 May 2023, the UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have entered into force.  The announcement comes after the UK, Australia and New Zealand completed their domestic ratification processes.  In the UK, this required primary legislation in the form of the Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill.

To help businesses use the deals, the UK Government published a toolkit for using the UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand FTAs, which has been developed to help businesses navigate these changes and has help and support for businesses during their export journey.  

As a reminder, both FTAs include specific provisions on cosmetics:

• the UK-Australia FTA includes a dedicated Cosmetics Annex which lays the groundwork to reduce the differences in regulation for UK businesses exporting to Australia.  This means that:
  • the Australian and UK Governments will seek to work together through international fora to align cosmetics regulation where appropriate;
  • the Annex will make it easier to understand what rules UK businesses need to follow, including on products that are classified as cosmetics in one system but not the other.  For example, UK businesses exporting products such as sunscreens and anti-dandruff shampoos to Australia will be supported to understand whether their product is a cosmetic and what rules they need to follow;
• the UK-New Zealand FTA includes an Article dedicated to cosmetic products, where both parties have agreed an ongoing collaboration and established an agreement on upholding the ban on animal testing and supporting alternative methodologies.  For example, as part of their review of the Cosmetic Products Group Standard, New Zealand proposed to add the UK to the alternative labelling compliance list.  The change is to acknowledge cooperation between New Zealand and the UK under the FTA.

For further information and guidance on the UK-Australia free trade deal, please visit GOV.UK and the GREAT website.