He said the bilateral agreement reducing tariffs on a number of products had been implemented more than a year ago, and the process of liberalisation was due to continue with talks on services and government procurement. Negotiations on government procurement should take place before 2008, he said.

Thailand implemented free-trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand at about the same time. The two agreements set the time frame for further negotiations.

However, Barrington declined to speculate on what would be included in the service negotiations, beyond saying there is a chance that telecommunications and financial services will be on the agenda.

He said the free-trade pact had been more beneficial to Thailand than to New Zealand. It resulted in a 23-per-cent increase in Thai exports to New Zealand in the first year.

Main contributors to the increase were petroleum, trucks, food and computers.

Barrington became New Zealand's ambassador to Thailand five months ago.

He said the talks that led to the Thai-New Zealand free-trade agreement were smooth because they followed the framework of Thailand's earlier negotiations with Australia. However, there was some sensitivity about dairy products.

Barrington said the scope of impact on Thai dairy farmers from New Zealand imports was limited by a supply constraint on New Zealand dairy products sold overseas.

At present, New Zealand has free-trade agreements with Thailand, Singapore and "the P4", consisting of Chile, Singapore, Brunei and New Zealand, as well as a Closer Economic Relations Agreement with Australia.

New Zealand and Australia are also negotiating a regional free trade deal with Asean.

Apart from trade, New Zealand has become a more attractive destination for Thai tourists following the widely popular movie trilogy "Lord of the Rings", which was shot there.

Jeerawat Na Thalang

The Nation