Wellington, 6 December 1982
ANZCER: Name of the New Agreement
In his note of 2 December, the Minister of Trade and Industry expressed his reservations about calling CER ‘The Agreement Between New Zealand and Australia on Free Trade and Closer Economic Relations’. Mr Templeton expressed his preference for a title which could be known as ‘Closer Economic Relations’, which retained the old ANZ connotations and which avoided reminder.s about NAFTA that ‘The Free Trade Agreement’ would carry.
- For their part, the Australians have argued that the Agreement deals essentially with free trade across the Tasman and that this aspect should be flagged in the title. Their suggestion was ‘Australia - New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Free Trade Agreement’. It is a matter of preference whether the formal title of the Agreement is cryptic or spelt out in full.
- Taking into account these considerations which narrow the range of words available for a name, you may like to draw the following possibilities to your Minister’s attention:
Name| Acronym
—|—
The Agreement between Australia and New Zealand on Closer Economic Relations and Trade| ANZCERT (or CER)
Australia New Zealand Agreement on Closer Economic Relations and Trade| ANZCERT (or CER)
Australia New Zealand Agreement on Trade and Economic Relations| ANZATER
Australia New Zealand Agreement on Trade and Closer Economic Relations| CER
Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Agreement| ANZCER (or CER) - Alternatively, we could accept the Australian words (perhaps with connectives added in) on the understanding that ‘Closer Economic Relations’ (CER) is now embedded in common usage and whatever variation is adopted from the words available for a name, the Agreement will continue to be called CER, at least in New Zealand.
[ABHS 950/Box 1228, 40/4/2 Part 5 Archives New Zealand/Te Whare Tohu Tuhituhinga 0 Aotearoa, Head Office, Wellington]