Kim Wilkie (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties Report 77 contains a review of six treaty actions, all of which are recommended for binding treaty action. The agreement with the United States of America in relation to scientific and technical cooperation will help to promote and increase the collaboration opportunities between Australian and US researchers. This includes collaboration in areas like joint research projects, task forces, seminars, conferences, symposia, training and exchange of scientists and technical experts, exchanges of information relating to activities, policies, practices, laws and regulations concerning science and research development.

In addition to ensuring the safe transport of nuclear material, the amendments to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material ensure member states assist in tracking down any smuggled nuclear material, alleviate the consequences of sabotage and prevent related offences. The exchange of notes constituting an agreement between the government of Australia and the government of Japan to replace the delineated and recorded Japanese nuclear fuel cycle program adds two new facilities at which Japan may undertake mixed oxide fuel fabrication. The program lists facilities at which Japan may process, use or reprocess Australian obligated nuclear material in connection with Japan’s peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The facilities listed include power plants and conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication and reprocessing plants.

The amendments to the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement ensure compliance with the changes to the homogenised commodity description and coding system to reflect changes to tariff line numbers resulting from changes to the homogenised commodity description and coding system. The revised system will take effect on 1 January 2007. The purpose of the amendments is to ensure that Australia’s or its partners’ obligations under the respective free trade agreements are not altered. The international health regulations were adopted by the World Health Organisation assembly in May 2005, and helped to stop the international spread of disease. Australia is not party to the previous international health regulations which monitored and controlled six serious infectious diseases: cholera, plague, yellow fever, smallpox, relapsing fever and typhus. Under the revised international health regulations, states are required to notify the World Health Organisation of events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

I commend the report to the House and thank the committee secretariat for their hard work in helping to produce this report.

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