Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—It is with great pleasure that I table the first protocol to amend the agreement establishing the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area, AANZFTA, and the accompanying national interest analysis for the parliament's consideration. I signed the first protocol along with ministers from each of the other 11 AANZFTA parties in Nay Pyi Taw, Burma, on 26 August this year, at the time of the ASEAN economic ministers' closer economic relations trade ministers consultations. In accordance with the government’s treaty-making procedures, the parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will now review the first protocol and, in due course, provide its report. The tabling of the first protocol today will also give the public the opportunity to scrutinise in detail the provisions of the treaty.

The first protocol will cut down the time spent by business on paperwork and, in a number of areas, make AANZFTA more consistent with Australia’s other free trade agreements. It will remove the need for business to provide certain information—which some regard as commercial-in-confidence—to obtain the benefits of the free trade agreement. The first protocol will simplify the presentation of the agreement’s rules of origin and bring them into line with the current version of the World Customs Organization’s harmonized system. Finally, the protocol will improve the process for administering the agreement.

This protocol makes doing business under the AANZFTA easier. It means more businesses will be able to access the opportunities the agreement provides. This is another example of the government cutting red tape to ensure our businesses reap the full benefits of our free trade agreements. This is a priority for the government. With the recent conclusion of trade agreements with Korea, Japan and now China, I am committed to ensuring our farmers, service providers and manufacturers can fully access the new opportunities these agreements create.

The protocol is an example of how our free trade agreements are living agreements. The conclusion of free trade negotiations is not an end. It is the start of a new discussion with our trade and investment partners, built on the foundation of the agreement, on increasing economic opportunities and on addressing persistent trade barriers. The China FTA, for example, includes a commitment to reopen negotiations on sensitive agricultural products in three years. The Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement establishes an annual joint committee meeting to review implementation of the agreement and recommend amendments. The government will use these agreements to continue to create new market openings for Australian exporters and investors.

The protocol also reflects Australia’s long history of working with both New Zealand and the nations of South-East Asia to promote trade. This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia relations, with Australia having become ASEAN’s first dialogue partner in 1974.

The AANZFTA agreement is the largest free trade agreement Australia currently has in force. Together, the parties to AANZFTA accounted for around 14 per cent of Australia’s exports of goods and services, valued at over $45 billion, and around 21 per cent of our imports of goods and services, valued at over $69 billion, in 2013. In 2013, almost 20,000 export shipments from all parts of Australia used the FTA to access AANZFTA markets. These shipments covered a broad range of products, including dairy and meat products, fresh fruit, cereals, biscuits and other food preparations, pet food, chemicals, plastics, copper and aluminium products, paper products, automotive parts and accessories and scientific instruments.

AANZFTA opened the door for Australia’s participation in the negotiations on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This involves all ten ASEAN member states and the six countries with which ASEAN has free trade agreements: China, India, Japan and Korea as well as Australia and New Zealand.

The protocol amending AANZFTA will reduce red tape for business and make it easier for business to access AANZFTA benefits. It demonstrates the ongoing value of FTAs as vehicles for continuing to open new trade and investment markets and demonstrates the government’s strong commitment to making free trade agreements business friendly.

I commend this agreement to parliament and hereby table the First Protocol to Amend the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area with its national interest analysis. I present a copy of the First Protocol to Amend the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area and the national interest analysis, and a copy of my ministerial statement.

I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable the honourable the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to speak for five minutes.

Leave granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent Ms Plibersek speaking in reply to the ministerial statement for a period not exceeding five minutes.

Question agreed to.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the opposition, I welcome the tabling of the signed First Protocol to Amend the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area and the accompanying national interest analysis. The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area agreement is a trade liberalisation agreement between 12 countries in the South-East Asia region—namely, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The agreement is still acknowledged today as the most ambitious free trade agreement negotiated by Australia. It was signed on 27 February 2009 by former Labor trade minister Simon Crean. Since its coming into effect on 1 January 2010, trade between Australia, ASEAN and New Zealand has continued to flourish. In 2013, the parties to this regional free trade agreement accounted for 17.6 per cent of Australian two-way trade in goods and services. The amendments agreed to in this first protocol will further enhance and promote this trade. This protocol aims to reduce red tape and increase harmonisation. Such aims will translate into trade efficiencies for our exporters and increased growth.

The protocol aims to facilitate trade by incorporating the consolidated product-specific rules, using the most recent version of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System. This system is an international system first established in 1983, pursuant to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, commonly referred to as the harmonised system, or HS, code. This system is maintained by the World Customs Organization. Australia signed on to this trade-facilitating international convention during the period of the Hawke Labor government. Australia has continued to seek uniformity in its subsequent trade agreements by utilising the HS system.

Labor welcomes this amendment as well as others made by this first protocol that are aimed at facilitating trade by addressing administrative requirements and implementation issues. These include the removal of the requirement to reflect sensitive commercial information on the free-on-board value in the certificate of origin in cases where the regional value content criteria is not used. Other amendments include simplifying the presentation of the agreement's rules-of-origin provision.

Continuing to increase trade security and cultural relations in our South-East Asia region is crucial for Australia's future prosperity. Forty years ago, under the visionary stewardship of Australia's former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, Australia became ASEAN's first dialogue partner. In 2012 Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard tabled a comprehensive road map for Australia in the form of the white paper Australia in the Asian century. It is a shame that the intellectual rigor underpinning the long-term goals of that white paper have been archived by the current government.

The regional trading relationship reflected in the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand free trade area has been successful for Australia and its partners. It has also served as a springboard to wider and deeper regional multilateral trade. As stated by the Minister for Trade and Investment, it was the ASEAN member states that initiated negotiations on the regional comprehensive economic partnership. Former trade minister Dr Craig Emerson participated in the formal launch of the regional comprehensive economic partnership negotiations in November 2012 at the ASEAN summit in Cambodia. Labor has since participated in subsequent negotiation rounds, and we support the government's efforts to make progress on this multilateral trade agreement. In addition, we urge the government to focus its trade negotiations on the more efficient and effective multilateral negotiations in priority of bilateral agreements.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge that trade facilitation measures that make trade easier and more consistent, such as those effected in the first protocol, are not considered controversial and are welcomed by business. I urge the government to properly build on these enhancements in a global context. The WTO's trade facilitation agreement, concluded for Australia by Dr Emerson in Bali in December last year, was a breakthrough on the Doha Round. Prompt implementation of this agreement was a key priority recommendation by the B20 at the recent G20 summit.

We urge the government to proactively work with other WTO members to quickly get this agreement back on track. We can assure the government of Labor's strong bipartisan support on this WTO agreement which will lift economic growth and jobs. Labor welcomes the tabling of the AANZFTA first protocol. We encourage business to become familiar with the terms of the protocol and to make submissions to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties during the committee's inquiry on the protocol.