Assumption 1. Free Trade Agreements Build on WTO Rules, Not Against Them

New Zealand's free trade agreements (FTAs) do not operate in isolation. They are built on the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, and their text typically says so. This matters for how obligations on services and intellectual property (IP) in FTAs are read — they extend WTO commitments rather than replace them.

This is confirmed by the language of New Zealand's most recent agreements:

Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and the European Union, preamble: BUILDING upon their respective rights and obligations under the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994, and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of cooperation to which both Parties are a party;

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, preamble: BUILD on their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization;

The practical consequence is that the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) remain relevant when interpreting and applying FTA obligations. A services or IP commitment in an FTA should be read consistently with — not in opposition to — the multilateral baseline.

For this project, this means that linkages identified at the multilateral level carry through to FTAs. Where an FTA extends a commitment, the WTO framework still applies as a floor.