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UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement: services, mobility and investment explainer (web version)

Published 28 February 2022

The UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) enhances our strong relationship in services and investment.

It guarantees market access and ensures that UK service suppliers can compete in New Zealand on an equal footing. The deal allows professionals, such as lawyers and management consultants, to operate in New Zealand more easily through a new visa route. The FTA increases opportunities for investors, making it easier to expand their footprint in New Zealand, and boosts the UK’s world-leading financial services sector. It also protects the intellectual property of the creative industries, with New Zealand extending the term of copyright protection by 20 years for authors. In 2020, services made up around 80% of the UK economy.^{[footnote 1]}

Supporting professional services and professional qualifications

The deal includes a Professional Services and Recognition of Professional Qualifications Annex which will support UK and New Zealand professionals who want to work in each other’s territories. The commitments on recognition of professional qualifications will encourage regulators of all regulated professions to establish and operate routes to recognition. This will support UK-professionals to have their qualifications recognised in New Zealand and vice versa.

Architectural services

The Professional Services and Recognition of Professional Qualifications Annex provides for a dialogue between relevant bodies in New Zealand and the UK responsible for regulating the profession of architects. They will consider the potential inclusion of sustainability skills, such as sustainable design or energy efficiency, as a requirement for recognition.

Legal services

This deal guarantees that UK lawyers can practise foreign and international law, including in connection to arbitration, mediation and conciliation proceedings, in New Zealand, using their existing qualifications and ‘home’ title. This will provide certainty and clarity for the legal services sector and support UK lawyers looking to export their services to New Zealand.

The deal also establishes a bespoke legal services regulatory dialogue with the aim of addressing remaining barriers to practising law in each country.

Financial services

The deal secures UK companies’ ability to deliver high-value financial services to clients in New Zealand, supporting the long-term competitiveness and stability of the UK’s financial services sector.

The deal includes non-discrimination rules that will ensure that both UK and New Zealand firms are treated fairly when providing services in the each other’s markets. Moreover, the deal secures important commitments to facilitate cross-border financial services trade, including for the insurance and asset management sectors. The agreement ensures the free flow of financial data across borders, and includes provisions to promote innovation in financial services in both countries.

Certainty for shipping industry and UK vessels

The deal delivers legal certainty for UK shipping companies and vessels operating in New Zealand. This will ensure that vessels flying the British flag can operate and supply their services in New Zealand with increased confidence and ensures they will not face barriers in the future.

Easier business travel

The UK will gain access to a new tailored visa route, which will allow UK professionals such as lawyers and accountants to work and deliver contracts in New Zealand more easily.

Company transferees will not be subject to economic needs tests or quantitative restrictions. At the same time New Zealand will allow, for the first time ever, family members to join company transferees in New Zealand for the duration of their visa. Furthermore, this deal also provides more clarity and certainty for business visitors on the activities which they may perform when in New Zealand.

Travel opportunities for young people

The UK and New Zealand have also committed to a mobility dialogue outside of the FTA that will consider how people-to-people links can be deepened even further. This will include working to extend and improve the existing New Zealand-UK working holiday/youth mobility scheme.

More attractive investment opportunities

This agreement will increase investment opportunities in both countries, making it easier for UK investors to expand their footprint and become more profitable in New Zealand. The deal raises investment screening thresholds to $200 million New Zealand dollars, meaning fewer UK investments into New Zealand will be subject to review. This will limit barriers for investing in New Zealand services and lead to savings for UK businesses.

The deal also prohibits specific performance requirements, which will lower costs for businesses, allow investors greater control, reduce barriers, and minimise market distortions. They include the prohibition of export restrictions, headquarter localisation requirements, mandatory levels of research and development, and local hiring requirements.

The provisions listed in the Investment chapter of the trade deal also outline protections for UK and New Zealand investors, including from unfair or discriminatory treatment and the expropriation of assets.

This deal also includes a ‘Most-Favoured Nation’ provision that captures future access granted to investors and investments from other countries, as well as commitments on market access for the whole economy.

Nationality and residency requirements for company directors will be limited alongside nationality requirements for senior managers, allowing UK enterprises to maintain control over business operations and recruitment in New Zealand.

Intellectual property rights

Through the FTA, New Zealand has committed to extend the term of copyright and rights in performances. This will align with the UK term of protection and shall be implemented within 15 years of the agreement coming into force. Owners of rights in original works, performances, and sound recordings will then enjoy remuneration for a further 20 years when their works are exploited in New Zealand.

Visual artists will also be compensated for the resale of their works as New Zealand adopts an artist’s resale right scheme and operates it on a reciprocal basis with the UK. This benefits both UK and New Zealand artists.

Both countries have also committed to protecting their respective brands and trade marks. Intellectual property rights holders, including UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can make use of online electronic registration systems and online databases for registering and maintaining trade marks. This ensures registering rights is efficient.

These commitments underpin the intellectual property in our world-leading innovation sectors, including provisions on patents, and test data, and our commitment to raising public awareness about the need to respect intellectual property rights.

Intellectual property rights will be enforced, including through authorities having the capability to order an online service provider to block websites which infringe intellectual property rights and disclose information sufficient to identify a subscriber whose website is being used for infringement.

1. ONS, GDP output approach – low-level aggregates ↩