WTO praises Australia’s economic performance

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has praised Australia’s impressive economic performance, Minister for Trade Warren Truss said today.

Australia’s Fifth Trade Policy Review is being conducted in Geneva this week.

A WTO report on Australia’s trade policies and practices from 2002-06, released overnight, strongly supports Australia’s workplace reforms in finding that “unemployment declined to its lowest level since the 1970s, in great part due to reforms that have rendered the labour market more flexible”.

The report also refers to recent structural reforms and Australia’s prudent macroeconomic policies and says “the resulting rise in productivity and improved competitiveness of Australia’s goods and services in world markets has enabled real GDP to grow at an average annual rate of about 3.5 per cent during the past 15 years, which has raised per capita income to eighth place among OECD countries”.

“Reform has also made the economy more flexible and resilient to external shocks, like the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and, more recently, the drought in 2006,” the report states.

The report highlighted Australia’s continuing process of trade liberalisation as “an integral part of the structural reforms that have contributed to Australia’s impressive economic performance”.

“Australia’s experience underlines the economic benefits of trade liberalisation and that is why we continue to push for a substantial and high-quality outcome in the Doha Round of world trade negotiations,” Mr Truss said.

“It is vital WTO members urgently find a way forward in the Doha negotiations which will result in genuine new commercial opportunities for farmers, manufacturers and service providers.”

WTO members participating in this week’s review complimented Australia on our active and constructive role across all areas of the Doha negotiations, including with the Cairns Group.

A number of WTO members raised concerns about issues such as Australia’s quarantine measures, single desk commodity marketing, high tariffs in certain manufacturing sectors, and our policies on foreign investment.

“On quarantine, the report acknowledged Australia was improving its import risk analysis process to make it ‘more transparent, efficient and timely’,” Mr Truss said.

The WTO report can be found at www.wto.org

Media Inquiries: Minister Truss' office 02 6277 7420 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555