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
Global corporations should not have special legal rights to undermine the policies of democratically elected governments.
Failure to ratify the Peru-Australia free trade agreement this year will cause major agricultural industries to miss out on improved market access and tariff cuts, says the country’s peak dairy group.
China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Australia have concluded the negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) and an investment agreement.
The free-trade deal appears to be on hold as Indonesia is angry about Australia’s potential move of an embassy to Jerusalem.
The two countries plan to ink the agreement on November 14, the second day of the ASEAN summit in Singapore.
Businesses in the mining sector and beyond insist protection for Australian investors in Indonesia is required in a free trade deal.
Australia walked away from plans for a free trade agreement with Taiwan after China warned any deal would hurt relations between Beijing and Canberra.
The federal government has urged Labor to support the Peru trade deal amid concerns the opposition’s new trade policy will blow up an agreement that has already been signed.
Indonesia could delay signing a planned free trade deal with Australia if Prime Minister Scott Morrison formally recognises Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, political analysts suggest, as the move would provoke deep anger in the lead up to the Muslim nation’s presidential election.
The free trade agreement between Australia and Indonesia is in peril after Labor said it would not ratify the deal, or any other FTA in the pipeline, unless provisions allowing the importation of foreign workers and the ability of foreign governments to sue, were stripped out.
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Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET)
AFTINET provides information, campaign materials, submissions and articles about Australia FTAs
