Australia
In the last two years the Australian Government has finalised bilateral trade agreements with China, Korea and Japan, which are now in force. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries has been agreed, but is being reviewed by a Parliamentary committees before Parliament votes on the implementing legislation. The TPP will not come into force until six of the 12 countries including the US and Japan pass the implementing legislation, which is expected to take two years.
The current conservative Coalition government has agreed to include Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in the Korea and China bilateral FTAs as well as the TPP. ISDS allows foreign companies to bypass national courts and sue governments for compensation if they can argue that a change in law or policy harms their investment. The previous Labor government had a policy against ISDS, and even a previous Coalition government did not include ISDS in the Australia-US free trade agreement in 2004.
There is widespread opposition in the Australian community to the inclusion of ISDS in the TPP. The TPP is also controversial because it extends monopoly rights on expensive life-saving biologic medicines, which will mean more years of very high prices before cheaper versions become available. There are also grave concerns about its impacts on food labelling standards and expanded access for temporary workers without additional protection of workers’ rights. A recent World Bank study found that Australia was only likely to gain almost no economic benefit from the deal.
Australia is currently involved in multilateral negotiations towards the PACER-plus agreement with New Zealand and 14 Pacific Island countries, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA). It is also negotiating bilateral trade agreements with India and Indonesia and will begin talks with Hong Kong and Taiwan later this year and the EU next year.
Contributed by AFTINET
last update: May 2016
The Federal Government is facing calls to axe its free trade deal with Hong Kong after suspending Australia’s extradition agreement with the city.
Australia’s new free-trade agreement with Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country, officially began on Sunday.
On 5 February 2020, Australia and Indonesia signed an exchange of letters agreeing to the termination of the Aus-Indo BIT and its sunset clause.
Australia is beginning to hold formal talks with the UK over its first post-Brexit free trade agreement.
PAFTA removes barriers to trade in goods between Australia and Peru across various industries and key barriers to services trade.
Indonesia is currently a major perpetrator of human rights abuses against its own minority groups, specifically their LGBTQI community, which makes this partnership questionable in view of Australia’s signature on the UN Human Rights Charter.
The Australian minerals industry has access to new export markets and investment opportunities with the Peru-Australia Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA) entering into force today.
Simon Birmingham, Australia’s minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, said he wanted to see ‘eliminated tariffs, quotas, and trade barriers’.
Australia - Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement entered into force on Friday, announced by Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham.
FTA between Peru and Australia will enter into force in February 2020, stated the head of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), Edgar Vasquez.
-
Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET)
AFTINET provides information, campaign materials, submissions and articles about Australia FTAs
