- Negotiations
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
Photo: AFTINET
11-Apr-2019
AFTINET
Detailed scrutiny of the text of the recent Indonesia trade deal has revealed that there are no provisions to cancel the old 1993 Indonesia-Australia bilateral investment agreement.
27-Mar-2019
AFTINET
The Australia-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement and separate Investment Agreement signed still give special rights to foreign investors to bypass national courts and sue governments for millions of dollars in international tribunals
26-Mar-2019
Mercury
Australia will now be easier to compete in the Asian city because a new free-trade deal with Hong Kong.
22-Mar-2019
AFTINET
It has taken a second FOI case and another two years to reveal that Australian taxpayers were only awarded half of the costs of defending Australia’s tobacco plain packaging laws against tobacco giant Philip Morris in March 2017.
5-Mar-2019
Macrobusiness
Australian unions stepped up their opposition to the deal as it currently stands and warned they would lobby a future Labor government to renegotiate the terms before it is ratified by parliament.
1-Mar-2019
ABC
Australian industry leaders laud the deal that hit a wall in October over when Australian Prime Minister considered moving the Australian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
23-Jan-2019
ABC
Clive Palmer has channelled his corporate empire through New Zealand and threatened to use free trade rules to sue Australian taxpayers for $45 billion as part of a dispute with a Chinese mining company.
17-Dec-2018
The Guardian
Global corporations should not have special legal rights to undermine the policies of democratically elected governments.
27-Nov-2018
Northqueens Land Register
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.
15-Nov-2018
Xinhua
China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Australia have concluded the negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) and an investment agreement.