UAE-New Zealand CEPA Removes 99 Percent Duties on Traded Goods

The UAE-New Zealand CEPA creates duty-free access for nearly all goods, and secures long-term investment and export opportunities. The CEPA framework extends to services, investment, data transfer and digital trade, and balances climate policy with economic growth.

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand entered into force on August 28, 2025. It is New Zealand’s first free trade agreement (FTA) with a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member country.

The UAE is already New Zealand’s largest market in the Middle East. Total goods and services exports reached US$749.6 million in the year to March 2025, and their two-way trade was at US$843.3 million. The CEPA is expected to increase this volume by removing barriers and cutting costs between both countries.

New Zealand’s fastest trade negotiation

The CEPA negotiation was completed in just over four months, thus making it the fastest FTA process in New Zealand’s history. New Zealand is aiming to double the value of its exports within the next 10 years. The UAE, meanwhile, is targeting US$1 trillion in total trade by 2031 and intends to more than double the size of its economy to US$800 billion.

Since launching its CEPA program in 2021, the UAE has concluded 28 agreements. Ten are already in force, covering markets that account for nearly one-quarter of the global population. In August 2025, the UAE also signed a CEPA with Angola to expand its partnerships in Africa.

The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade reached AED 3 trillion (US$816.8 billion) in FY 2024-25 (a year-on-year increase of 14.6 percent). Trade conducted under existing CEPAs has contributed AED 135 billion (US$36.7 billion) to the UAE’s economy, up by 42 percent from the previous year. In the first six months of 2025 alone, non-oil trade grew another 24 percent.

Elimination of tariffs and expanded goods access

The agreement removes 99 percent of tariffs on New Zealand exports to the UAE (98.5 percent immediately on entry into force). As of entry into force, all dairy, red meat, horticultural, and industrial goods can now enter duty-free. For wine, a 10 percent tariff has been removed, and there are commitments for future tariff-reduction measures. Poultry exports will be fully duty-free by January 1, 2027.

Trade and customs procedures

The CEPA introduces predictable customs procedures, which can reduce clearance time paperwork. The agreement makes a commitment to releasing goods immediately upon arrival with maximum release time of 48 hours. The perishable items are required to be cleared within a maximum of six hours. The vendors will need to submit documents electronically before the goods arrive at the customs point.

The agreements has measures to encourage the use of electronic certification, and a review clause allows future expansion of self-certification rights to all traders.

Rules of origin provisions in the CEPA are similar to existing procedures for New Zealand’s exports under other FTAs. Exporters, with approval from respective authorities, can self-declare the origin of their goods from the day CEPA came into force.

Trade remedies and mechanisms

The agreement maintains the UAE and New Zealand’s ability to apply trade remedies in accordance with World Trade Organization rules. Two equivalency agreements on food safety and biosecurity, signed in 2016, have been incorporated into CEPA. These arrangements are meant to ensure that New Zealand’s system meet UAE import standards. This removes the need for extra certifications for exporters of both the countries. As per Chapter 4 of the agreement, firms cam use a single window system for submission of all import/export documents.

The CEPA has adopted a risk management approach, which means that high-risk goods will be inspected, and low-risk consignments will be facilitated at custom points. As per the agreement, export/import firms can expect advance rulings within deadlines on rules of origin disputes, customs value determination, etc. The agreement provides for creation of joint committees to manage disputes and consider amendments or additions to the agreement in future.

Investment rules and legal protections

Alongside the CEPA, a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) has been concluded. It is scheduled to enter into force later in 2025. The treaty provides national treatment and non-discrimination protection for investors. It also preserves each government’s right to regulate sensitive areas like public policy, labor, environment, and foreign ownership screening.

There are no investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in the treaty. But it provides for some standard exclusions keeping each government’s domestic responsibility at forefront, like the protection for New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

Services trade and labor mobility

Both the partner’s services sector now have formal access to each other’s market under the CEPA. The agreement ensures equal treatment with national companies across several areas. The agreement has paid considerable attention to education, professional and environmental services, engineering, and audio-visual and gaming sectors.

In some sectors, New Zealand exporters are granted more favorable terms than other foreign competitors in the UAE. It has automatic extension clauses of Most Favored Nation (MFN), which means that any future benefits granted by either party to third countries will also apply to the other. It also allows for a temporary entry provision to enable the movement of businesspeople and service specialists across the borders.

Read more: UAE-India CEPA at Three Years: Trade and Investment Growth, Opportunities

Digital trade and cross-border data movement

The CEPA establishes digital trade provisions based on systems that were already in use through the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). This can provide some certainty for traders and consumers in both markets. They cover the movement of digital products and data across borders, and ensure that online trade flows, whether for goods or services, face minimal restrictions.

The agreement recognizes standards on privacy, consumer protection, and digital communication (SPAM) that can encourage online economic growth and minimize digital fraud. Though it promotes commercial use of digital channels, the agreement has strict provisions for each country’s right to regulate digital trade in public interest areas to keep the sensitivities of cultural content and Treaty of Waitangi obligations intact.

Public procurement access

The agreement wants to promote public procurement systems based on fair and competitive practices to lower entry barriers for firms bidding on public contracts. For this, the chapter on government procurement grants New Zealand suppliers guaranteed access to UAE central government procurement processes. In return, it provides reciprocal treatment for UAE suppliers in New Zealand.

Intellectual property rules

The CEPA reiterates intellectual property (IP) commitments that are already part of the national laws. The national laws in turn are based on international obligations under the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

The chapter on IP has protections for copyright, trademarks, patents, geographical indications based on territorial origin, and industrial designs. It also recognizes the balance between protecting innovation and ensuring public access. Interestingly, the CEPA also provides the right to regulate IP-related issues in traditional knowledge and genetic resources of their indigenous communities.

Labor rights, climate policy, and responsible business conduct

The Trade and Sustainable Development chapter addresses labor standards and environmental protection. The UAE and New Zealand have committed not to lower environmental or labor protections for commercial advantage. In labor terms, it adopts the best global practices from the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work with focus on eliminating forced labor.

The environmental provisions demand cooperation in sustainable agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, as well as climate change mitigation. The chapter also has incentives and intentions on promoting women’s economic participation, and sharing information on inclusive trade practices.

Indigenous trade and Treaty of Waitangi protections

As with all recent New Zealand trade agreements, the CEPA includes a Treaty of Waitangi exception. It allows the New Zealand government to meet its Treaty obligations without risk of legal challenge under the agreement.

A separate chapter on Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation also forms part of the agreement. It recognizes the commercial and cultural interests of Maori in international trade and opens space for future cooperation for Indigenous economic development.

In short

The UAE–New Zealand CEPA creates a new trade framework between two economies that had not previously shared a bilateral agreement. It eliminates nearly all tariffs, extends access to procurement markets, and lays down standards for digital trade, IP, competition, and sustainability. The pact also makes space for Indigenous participation and joint sector development.

If implemented as negotiated, the CEPA may serve as a model for how mid-sized, outward-looking economies can create a holistic bilateral agreement in an increasingly fragmented trade environment.

Read more: UAE Guide | Doing Business in UAE

(US$1 = AED 3.67)

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