Australia-Thailand
In October 2003, Australia and Thailand finalised negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement. The text was formally signed by the two countries in July 2004 and came into force on 1 January 2005.
It was Thailand’s first FTA negotiated with an industrialised country and its first "comprehensive" FTA. This means it covers not only trade in goods, but also trade in services, protection of intellectual property and new privileges for investors.
It was Australia’s second FTA with an ASEAN country. (Singapore came first.) It promised Australian companies increased export opportunities in several sectors, such as dairy products and motor vehicles, and new inroads into Thailand’s very large and growing services economy.
The Thailand-Australia deal, or TAFTA as it is sometimes called, has had negative impacts on Thailand, especially in the fisheries and agricultural sectors.
Australia has banned Thai shrimp in the guise of food safety concerns and slapped new tariffs on Thai tuna that exceeded the deal’s quota. Additionally, many reports show that the increase in Australian dairy imports has put many Thai dairy farmers out of business. In 2011, the Thai government lobbied Australia to make it easier for food exports – and Thai chefs - to enter the country under TAFTA.
last update: May 2012
Articles
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26-Jun-2015 AAP Calls for reform in Thai-Aust trade pact
Thailand faces pressure to open its highly protected dairy and beef markets to Australian exporters under the decades-old Thai-Australia free trade pact. -
3-Feb-2011 The Nation Thailand seeks adjustment on Australia FTA
Thailand will soon start talks with Australia on opening up the two countries’ markets to more goods and services under their five-year-old free-trade agreement. -
3-Aug-2008 FTAs crash into Australian car makers
The Bracks review of the car industry is expected to urge the Federal Government to take a stronger line in negotiating free trade agreements after the review’s hearings became a flashpoint for dissent over the Thai free trade agreement (FTA). -
12-Feb-2008 Bangkok Post Canberra wants Thai services sector opened
The Australian government will negotiate for greater opening of Thailand’s services sector this year under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement -
7-Dec-2006 Bangkok Post Shrimpers cry foul over new Australia ban
Thai shrimpers yesterday submitted a letter to protest against Australia’s ban on shrimp imports even before its import risk analysis is completed. Viewing the move as unfair, Thai officials will also discuss the issue at a forum on the Thailand-Australia free trade agreement next week. -
7-Sep-2006 Thai tuna import tariff to double
Australia will increase tariffs on canned tuna and canned pineapple from Thailand after the finding that they had exceeded quotas under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). -
11-Jun-2006 Bangkok Post FTA hurting Thai farmers
A recent study led by Thammasat University academic Rangsan Thanapornpan claims that the Australia-Thailand free trade agreement has benefited only a small group of industrialists, while people in the agricultural sector have been adversely affected. -
8-Mar-2006 FTA provides Thai opportunity
The Western Australian office of Sea-Slip Marinas (Australia) Pty Ltd is bidding for more than $500,000 of contracts this year to provide marina pontoons in Thailand. -
12-Jan-2006 Asia Pulse Australia-Thailand free trade deal to be challenged in court
Australia’s booming trade relations with Thailand are in doubt as a constitutional court challenge against the countries’ free trade pact looms in Bangkok. -
11-Jan-2006 Thai trade deal to be challenged
Australia’s booming trade relations with Thailand are in doubt as a constitutional court challenge against the countries’ free trade pact looms in Bangkok. -
30-Dec-2005 Asia Pulse Australian businesses reap rewards of Thai free trade agreement
The Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) has benefited Australian companies since it began in January through expanded opportunities and increased market access, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, said. -
6-Dec-2005 Free trade agreements draw flak
Thailand and Australia - two countries at the forefront of a regional proliferation of bilateral free trade agreements - will be worth watching at the World Trade Organization talks starting in Hong Kong on December 13. -
5-Dec-2005 FTA boosts Thai-Australian trade by nearly 50% in first 10 months of 2005
The value of bilateral trade between Thailand and Australia soared nearly 50% during the first 10 months of 2005, compared to the corresponding period of last year, thanks to the free trade area (FTA) agreement signed and implemented by the two countries one year ago. -
7-Jan-2005 The Nation Big changes ahead in world trade
In Thailand, FTA-mania under the administration of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is likely to continue in 2005. -
23-Dec-2004 FTA Watch Open Letter to the Government and the People of Australia
Regarding the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and Thailand conflicting the provisions of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2540 (1997) -
18-Nov-2004 Focus on the Global South Milking Thailand: The Thai-Australia Free Trade Agreement
In Thailand, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) debates were heated. Farmers and critics claim that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s government sold out small farmers to their own big business interests. They took to the streets in protest while Thaksin lambasted them and obscured negotiation details. -
18-Nov-2004 Senate debate begins on Thai FTA deal
Debate has begun in the Senate on laws enabling the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement to take effect from next year. -
28-Sep-2004 Bangkok Post Thai dairy farmers make U-turn on FTA plan
Key dairy farmers are making a U-turn in their FTA strategy and are now seeking financial, technical and marketing assistance from the big players Australia and New Zealand. -
20-Jul-2004 FTA BACKLASH: Farmers petition the King
A leading farming group says it has petitioned His Majesty the King to call on the government to withdraw milk and dairy products from Thailand’s free-trade agreement (FTA) with Australia. -
19-Jul-2004 FTA BACKLASH: Trade talk details to be revealed
Criticism of the free-trade agreement signed with Australia earlier this month has prompted the Commerce Ministry to set up a committee to monitor impacts.
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Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET)
AFTINET provides information, campaign materials, submissions and articles about the Thai-Australia FTA -
TAFTA at DFAT
Australian government’s Thailand-Australia FTA page -
TAFTA at ThaiFTA
Thai government’s Thailand-Australia FTA page
Links
News from the movements
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1-Jun-2017 Focus on the Global South
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30-May-2017 MSF
MSF response on the India-EFTA free trade agreement negotiations in Liechtenstein this week
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29-May-2017 La Vía Campesina
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