Peru and Australia signed a free trade agreement on 12 February due to eliminate tariffs on 99% of Australian goods within five years of the agreement entering into force.
Trade minister Steven Ciobo said the Peru-Australia Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA) would grant market access that goes beyond the CPTPP agreement.
“Australian exports of sugar, dairy, rice, sorghum, sheepmeat, wine, kangaroo, almonds, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, paper products and machinery will have immediate tariff-free access,” Mr Ciobo said.
“Beef will be tariff free within five years.”
Mr Ciobo said the agreement secured tariff-free access for an “unprecedented” 90,000 tonnes of Australian sugar.
“[This] is more than any other sugar-exporting country has achieved into Peru in the past 20 years and is equivalent to roughly 30% of Peru’s sugar imports,” he said.
Mr Ciobo said PAFTA was the fastest trade agreement Australia has ever concluded, after negotiations were launched in May 2017.
