U.S. – Australia Relations

Statement from USTR Spokesman Richard Mills Regarding Australian implementing legislation and amendments related to the FTA

Washington, D.C. — 12 August 2004

08/12/2004

"We understand that the FTA implementing legislation and amendments pose important issues in Australia, just as they did in the United States.

"We have chosen not to intervene in the internal debate within Australia about the FTA implementing legislation and amendments at this point.

"We have stated that it is Australia’s obligation to implement the FTA in a manner consistent with both the terms of the FTA and international intellectual property agreements.

"We’ve made clear that the United States must certify that the implementation language fulfills the obligations under the FTA before the FTA can come into force. We reserve all our rights in this process.

"At no point have we expressed acceptance of the proposed legislation and/or amendments."

Original document from www.ustr.gov.

Last update: Monday, 19 November 2007 GMT+1000