ASEAN-CER Trade Ministers Meeting

Australian Government Minister for Trade, Warren Truss, welcomed the strong commitment demonstrated at the 12^th annual ASEAN Economic Ministers – Closer Economic Relations (AEM-CER) consultations to the completion of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Australia, New Zealand and the ASEAN countries.

Mr Truss, who attended the consultations held in Manila on 26 August, said, “Good progress has been made in negotiating the FTA”.

“Some difficult issues remain to be resolved but the meeting agreed that it should be possible to complete the negotiations by mid-2008, with the aim of signing the Agreement at the 13^th annual AEM-CER consultations in August 2008,” Mr Truss said.

“The negotiations are now engaging more intensively on the elements needed for a comprehensive agreement, including the market access commitments that will be central to determining the Agreement’s relevance to the business community.

“There is still a lot of detailed work to do to complete the negotiations. It is also a challenging negotiation given differing levels of ambition and the diversity of countries involved. An important element of the negotiations has been capacity building and strong appreciation was expressed by ASEAN for Australia’s help in this area,” he said.

ASEAN is also involved in FTA negotiations with China, the Republic of Korea, Japan and India, and has recently launched negotiations with the EU.

Mr Truss noted the importance of Australia obtaining commitments on its market access to ASEAN that ensured that Australia was not disadvantaged in comparison to ASEAN’s other major trading partners.

“Trade between Australia and ASEAN increased by 20 percent in 2006, and ASEAN, as a group, is a larger trading partner for Australia than any single country. It now accounts for 16 percent of Australia’s two-way trade,” he said.

“The meeting also provided an opportunity to share perspectives on the prospects for the WTO Doha Round negotiations and preparations for the APEC meetings to be hosted by Australia next week.

“There was recognition of the difficulties facing the Doha Round but a strong determination to keep working to try and find a way forward,” Mr Truss said.

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