Update 4: Australia-GCC FTA Negotiations
After an extended pause, initially due to scheduling problems and then a temporary suspension of FTA negotiations by the GCC, the third round of our FTA negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was held in Canberra from 24 to 26 February 2009.
Negotiations at this round were broad-ranging and built on the progress made at the second round (November 2007 in Riyadh). The issues covered included trade in goods and services, investment, government procurement, rules of origin (ROO), sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT), customs procedures, movement of natural persons (MNP), education services, telecommunications, e-commerce, intellectual property, dispute settlement, institutional provisions and competition policy.
Despite the long break between negotiating rounds, both sides were well-prepared and ready to re-commence negotiations with a view to concluding the agreement as soon as possible. There were productive discussions across most issues.
While we were able to narrow our differences on the goods and services texts, there were no substantive discussions on goods or services market access. There was also solid progress on SPS, customs procedures and rules of origin. Both Parties agreed to consider further how TBT provisions would be incorporated into the FTA.
In terms of services, there was good progress on financial services and in support of an education chapter an agreement to hold an education workshop in Dubai ahead of the next round to exchange information. We exchanged views on MNP, telecommunications, e-commerce, with agreement to work intersessionally in advance of the next round to narrow differences. On investment, the scope and coverage of the chapter was the focus of discussions during this round.
On legal issues, there was some progress on dispute settlement and, to a lesser extent, on institutional provisions. We also exchanged information on our respective domestic arrangements concerning intellectual property.
Both sides agreed to undertake work intersessionally on all areas of the FTA in order to facilitate negotiations at the next round. The timing of a fourth round is yet to be confirmed but is expected to be around mid-year.
Return to Australia-GCC FTA Negotiations Page