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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
12-Jan-2006 Asia Pulse Australia-Thailand free trade deal to be challenged in court
-
11-Jan-2006 Thai trade deal to be challenged
-
30-Dec-2005 Asia Pulse Australian businesses reap rewards of Thai free trade agreement
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
19-Jul-2004 FTA BACKLASH: Trade talk details to be revealed
-
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
Upcoming events
1 Oct: Public debate on FTAs in Casablanca (Morocco) - contact 8 Oct: mobilisation in Luxembourg against CETA - contact 8-15 oct: October of resistance against TTIP and CETA in Spain - contact 15 Oct: mobilisation in Paris against CETA - contact 10-15 Oct: regional week of action against RCEP in Asia-Pacific 27-28 Oct: mobilisation in Brussels against CETA - contact
Any edits, please contact us
News from the movements
-
26-Sep-2016 No al TTIP
Aprobada en Les Corts Valencianes una iniciativa para instar al Gobierno central a no autorizar la firma del Acuerdo Económico y Comercial Global (CETA)
Un total de 32 ayuntamientos valencianos, que aglutinan a más de un millón de personas, han rechazado este acuerdo. -
23-Sep-2016 La Diaria
Para comerte mejor. Contra los TLC y otros tratados vampiros
Suplemento especial elaborado por La Diaria, Uruguay, dedicado a los Tratados de Libre Comercio. -
23-Sep-2016 TeleSur
Dozens of Indigenous absolved in Peru’s 2009 ’Baguazo’ massacre
Dozens of Indigenous people in Peru have been absolved of accusations that they were responsible for a massacre seven years ago that killed at least 32 people, due to intense conflict triggered by the country’s free trade agreements.
-
22-Sep-2016 CADTM
ATTAC CADTM Maroc organise un séminaire sur les accords de libre échange au Maroc
Il est urgent de lever le silence qui entoure cette question dans notre pays et de présenter des éléments de réflexion critique et de débat sur ce sujet -
21-Sep-2016 El Economista
Miles de personas protestan ante las instituciones europeas contra el TTIP
Miles de personas se manifestaron hoy (20-9) en el barrio europeo de Bruselas contra el TTIP y el pacto comercial ya cerrado con Canadá (conocido por CETA), aún pendiente de ratificación. -
21-Sep-2016 EurActiv
Thousands protest in Brussels against US, Canada trade deals
Thousands of protesters marched through Brussels to demand the European Union abandon planned transatlantic free trade deals. -
21-Sep-2016 Le Monde
Des milliers de manifestants à Bruxelles contre les traités de libre-échange transatlantiques
Plusieurs milliers de personnes manifestaient à Bruxelles pour dénoncer le traité de libre-échange transatlantique que l’UE négocie avec les Etats-Unis (TTIP) et son équivalent avec le Canada (CETA). -
19-Sep-2016 La Vanguardia
Unas 350.000 personas se manifiestan en Alemania contra el TTIP
Las protestas estuvieron marcadas por el ambiente festivo y por la demanda de un “comercio mundial justo”
bilaterals.org is a collaborative space to share information and support movements struggling against bilateral trade and investment deals which serve corporations, not people. Multilingual. Global. No one owns it. Open publishing. Get involved.