Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee's report entitled Report124: Treaties tabled on 22 November 2011 and 7 February 2012.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—The committee's report No. 124 contains the committee's views on a series of treaties which were tabled on 22 November 2011 and 7 February this year. One of the more important treaties covered in this report was the Agreement between the European Union and Australia on the Processing and Transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) Data by Air Carriers to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, done at Brussels on 29 September 2011.

The agreement provides the legal basis required by the European Union under its data protection laws to allow the transfer of passenger name record data to Australia. Passenger day record data is passenger information processed in the EU by air carriers, including passengers travel requirements, date of reservation, date of intended travel, name, contact details and payment information. Negotiation of such an agreement with the EU is a prerequisite for the release of EU held personal information to other jurisdictions and reflects the high standard of protection for personal information held in the European Union.

The agreement between Australia and the EU is of high importance in terms of strengthening customs and border protection measures. Analysis of this and other data plays a critical role in the identification of possible persons of interest in the context of combating transnational crimes. Without such an agreement passenger name record data processed in the EU could not be provided to Customs and Border Protection without breaching EU law, and failure to furnish such information might expose an information gap that could be exploited by people wishing to enter Australia without detection. The committee recognises the need for balance between providing information to government agencies and personal privacy. The agreement has been scrutinised in this area—most notably, by the European Parliament—and the committee is satisfied that a suitable balance has been found.

The Treaties Committee has approved another two treaties—the Amendments to MARPOL Annex VI on Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships by Inclusion of New Regulations on Energy Efficiency for Ships, which is Resolution MEPC.203(62) adopted at London on 15 July 2011; and the Protocol Amending the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of India for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income, which was adopted in New Delhi on 16 December 2010. As well, the committee has approved a minor treaty action—the Amendment to Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent to Search for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, which was done at Rotterdam on 10 September 1998.

The committee has concluded that all the treaties covered in report 124 should be supported with binding action.

On behalf of the committee I want to place on record my appreciation for the hard work of the Treaties Committee secretariat in dealing with the substantial workload arising from these and the numerous other treaties which have come before the committee for consideration during the life of this parliament. I commend the report to the House.