About RT4D

The Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) initiative is funded by the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. It assists ASEAN Member States (AMS) in meeting their commitments and realising the advantages offered by the Agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, or AANZFTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.

Through the AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP) and the RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), RT4D provides tailored support to enhance the capabilities of ASEAN Member States by strengthening skills, building networks, facilitating policy options and ensuring that trade benefits everyone, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), women and people with disability.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have committed up to AUD 53.3 million to fund RT4D from 2020–21 to 2027–28.

Project Summary

The AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP), implemented through the Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) Facility, supports ASEAN Member States to realise the benefits of AANZFTA through capacity-building support and access to technical expertise.

The project ‘AANZFTA Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) Stocktaking and Work Plan Development’ is approved under the AISP. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the AANZFTA Committee on Trade in Goods (CTG) and relevant subsidiary bodies to adopt a more systematic, cohesive and evidence-based approach to identifying, prioritising and addressing non-tariff measures and procedural obstacles affecting regional trade in goods. It will:

  • identify and assess existing AANZFTA initiatives aimed at addressing non-tariff measures (NTMs) and procedural obstacles affecting regional trade in goods, including their scope, implementation and effectiveness;
  • assess relevant ASEAN, sectoral, AANZFTA, World Trade Organization and other trade-related initiatives, including the ASEAN NTM Guidelines, NTM Database and ASEAN Solutions for Investments, Services and Trade (ASSIST);
  • identify commonalities, gaps, challenges, good practices and opportunities for improvement, coordination, complementarity and regional replication;
  • conduct a sector-wide assessment, with greater emphasis on food, fibre and consumer goods, and import-licensing measures applied to these sectors;
  • undertake consultations with government and business stakeholders across all 12 AANZFTA Parties to identify priority areas, shared regional concerns and practical trade-related challenges;
  • develop a Stakeholder Consultation Report reflecting government and business priorities, including perspectives from regional business councils, chambers of commerce and relevant business associations;
  • develop a list of approximately 8–10 practical, tangible and scalable activities for potential future implementation by the CTG and other relevant subsidiary bodies; and
  • facilitate the prioritisation of the top three recommended initiatives, taking into account regional relevance, potential value, inclusivity, feasibility, institutional capacity, delivery pathways and resource requirements.

The Opportunity

RT4D is seeking a consulting firm/organisation or consortium (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultant”) to manage and deliver the project, in close collaboration with the RT4D Facility, AANZFTA Parties, the ASEAN Secretariat and the AANZFTA Committee on Trade in Goods. The final Project outputs will be subject to comments, amendments, and approval from the RT4D Facility Team, the Project Proponent, the ASEAN Secretariat External Economic Relations Division, the AANZFTA Committee on Trade in Goods and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The services will be delivered in accordance with the requirements set out in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and Terms of Reference (ToR).

Closing Date for Queries: 10 November 2026

Queries

Request for Proposal (RFP)

Terms of Reference

Financial Proposal Template

Services Agreement Template

To ensure the above can be effectively managed and completed in alignment with the ToR, it is recommended that interested organisations have:

  • Qualified and experienced team: A suitably qualified and experienced expert or team of experts with sufficient technical expertise, organisational capacity and availability to deliver all technical and consultation-related outputs within the scope, quality standards and timelines set out in the ToR.
  • International trade and NTM expertise: Demonstrable expertise in international trade, non-tariff measures and trade facilitation, particularly in relation to AANZFTA, ASEAN economic integration and relevant regional and international frameworks. Strong understanding of existing ASEAN NTM-related initiatives and mechanisms, including the ASEAN NTM Guidelines, NTM Database and ASSIST, is required. Experience with sector-specific NTMs, particularly in food, fibre and consumer goods, and import-licensing measures, is highly desirable.
  • Policy research and assessment of NTM initiatives: Strong experience in policy research and comparative analysis, including assessing the relevance, effectiveness, gaps and good practices of existing initiatives, and identifying opportunities for improvement and regional replication.
  • Stakeholder engagement and regional experience: Proven experience in stakeholder consultation and engagement, particularly with government ministries and agencies, trade-facilitation committees, regional business councils, chambers of commerce, business associations and private-sector stakeholders. Experience working with AANZFTA Parties, ASEAN Member States, the ASEAN Secretariat, Australia and/or New Zealand is highly desirable. Familiarity with the AANZFTA Committee on Trade in Goods, relevant subsidiary bodies and ASEAN trade-facilitation mechanisms is a distinct advantage.
  • Regional coordination capacity: Demonstrated capacity to undertake cross-country consultations, coordinate with government and private-sector stakeholders across AANZFTA Parties, and effectively manage regional research and stakeholder-engagement activities.
  • Report writing and analytical capacity: Excellent analytical and report-drafting capabilities, including demonstrated experience preparing high-quality policy reports, comparative case studies and recommendations for government and/or international development programs.
  • Regional consultation and facilitation: Demonstrated experience designing, coordinating and facilitating cross-country consultations with government and private-sector stakeholders, including interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions, to gather evidence, identify shared regional concerns and support the prioritisation of future initiatives.
  • GEDSI integration: Demonstrated ability and expertise within the proposed team to integrate Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) considerations into research, stakeholder consultations and recommendations, including consideration of MSMEs, women-led enterprises, people with disability and other disadvantaged or underrepresented groups where relevant and supported by evidence.
  • RT4D programme requirements: Strong understanding of, and ability to operationalise, RT4D requirements relating to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), GEDSI, communications, event management and programme management throughout project implementation. 

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Apply before 21 November 2026

Apply Now