Global Trade Watch – FTA Article

US-Australia Fta Negotiations Face Being Pushed Back

Asia Pulse, Thursday October 2, 2003

CANBERRA, Oct 2 Asia Pulse - Negotiations between Australia and the United States for a free trade agreement (FTA) could be pushed back to ensure a comprehensive deal was made, a Senate committee heard today.

Steven Deady, Australia's lead negotiator for the FTA, said getting the right agreement was more important than signing off on a deal too quickly.

Australia and the US had hoped to agree on the FTA by year's end, partly in a bid to avoid it being caught up in next year's presidential election.

But initial offers from the US, particularly on agriculture, have so far fallen short of Australian expectations.
Mr Deady said Australia had already made a secondary request to the US on agriculture.

He said although negotiations were going well, there was still some gaps between the two countries that would take time to overcome.

"The key driver for Australia is a big deal, is a good outcome from the negotiations, and the timing is secondary," he told the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence committee.

American negotiators will head to Canberra for a week of talks starting on October 27.Talks are likely to occur at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Thailand, which starts in a fortnight, and during the visit of President George W Bush to Australia the following week.

Mr Deady said an extra week of negotiations would be held in Washington during the first week of December.

Australian farmers have already raised concerns about the American offer on agriculture. Mr Deady said there would be issues such as transition periods for improvements in agricultural produce access to be negotiated with the US.