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Australia

Howard cautious on China FTA
21-Mar-2005
Prime Minister John Howard said tonight Australia would continue to have strong trade links to China even if a free trade agreement could not be settled.
Australia eyes free-trade deal with UAE as ’launchpad’ for access to Middle East
17-Mar-2005 Daily Star
Australia and the United Arab Emirates agreed Tuesday to begin negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) that Canberra said would be a "launchpad" for expanded business opportunities across the Middle East.
Aussie BitTorrent case to test Aust-US FTA
17-Mar-2005 Zdnet Australia
Warner Music Australia and other record companies are suing ISP Swiftel Communications for copyright infringement for allegedly hosting and maintaining two Internet computer servers and a Web site called Archie’s Hub which deploys the BitTorrent application. The case is the first to test legislation passed to enact the Australian-United States Free Trade Agreement.
UAE and Australia begin talks on FTA
17-Mar-2005 Gulf News
The UAE and Australia are about to begin negotiations on a free trade agreement, officials said at a press conference yesterday.
China human rights not FTA issue: Downer
14-Mar-2005 The Age
Australia should not try to raise human rights issues with China if formal talks about a free trade agreement begin, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says. "You won’t get the free trade agreement and you won’t get any improvements in human rights."
Howard eyes Chinese free trade deal
14-Mar-2005 ABC
Prime Minister John Howard says there is a good chance Australia will begin negotiating with China on a free trade deal. China is Australia’s third largest trading partner and the Government says if an agreement is signed it could be worth tens of billions of dollars to the Australian economy.
Conference on free trade agreement in Melbourne
10-Mar-2005
Australia will be hosting a conference on the Australia-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement on March 10 in Melbourne. The conference, which is organised by Monash University, is supported by the Australian Government.
FTA with China may take five years
10-Mar-2005
A free trade deal with China may take up to five years to negotiate but it will cover contentious areas including cuts to Australia’s textile and clothing tariffs.
Australia, NZ, ASEAN start free trade talks
24-Feb-2005 ABS-CBN
Australia began talks on a free-trade pact with New Zealand and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday, but said it still backed multilateral efforts to cut trade barriers.
Trade links can fight terrorists
24-Feb-2005 AFP
More open trade links between Australia and the Asia-Pacific can play a major role in fighting terrorism throughout the region, Treasurer Peter Costello said today.
WTO wrong to abandon core values
15-Feb-2005
Free trade agreements are popping up everywhere. In its first term the Bush administration pushed four through Congress and started another three. China is negotiating FTAs with Chile and New Zealand. And Australia has negotiated three with Washington, Singapore and Thailand, and is in the process of dealing with Beijing. Not everyone thinks they are good.
The case for a China trade deal
15-Feb-2005
The Howard Government is moving inevitably towards a free trade agreement with China. That is no bad thing. In the absence of any meaningful progress at the World Trade Organisation, a medium-sized economy such as Australia has few options but to pursue bilateral pacts with powerhouse economies such as China.
When FTA spells BSE: Trading away our food safety
12-Feb-2005 Public Health Association of Australia
Australia is fortunate to be one of few countries to remain free of BSE, the degenerative brain disease in cattle that causes the deadly variant CJD in people. But the Free Trade Agreement recently signed with the United States may change this.
US yet to act on FTA amendments
19-Jan-2005
The United States has yet to follow through on threats to challenge amendments made to the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement.
Vaile defends trade deals
18-Jan-2005
Trade Minister Mark Vaile today defended Australia’s free trade deals with foreign countries after a new World Trade Organisation (WTO) report said such agreements could be discriminatory.
Free trade: Time to take your partners
17-Jan-2005
Queensland could reap $1b a year from the Free Trade Agreement with the US, but it’s not going to be easy.
Australia-US FTA goes into effect
2-Jan-2005 The Age
The agreement was first mooted in November 2002 and has been strongly backed by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who claims it as a major achievement of his government. But critics have derided it as a sell-out to US interests.
Frustrated Australia resorts to bilateral free-trade deals
2-Jan-2005 WSJ
Frustrated with global trade talks, Australia is using a slew of free-trade agreements to win business across the Asian-Pacific region.
US drug makers pressure Canberra
28-Dec-2004
US drug manufacturers are planning a New Year’s push to pressure Canberra to unwind initiatives to cut medicine prices.
Open Letter to the Government and the People of Australia
23-Dec-2004 FTA Watch
Regarding the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and Thailand conflicting the provisions of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2540 (1997)