Australia Yearbook - 2001

98 Year Book Australia 2001
economic relations agreement with New Zealand
(Closer Economic Relations or CER) and the
ASEAN Free Trade Area, are also being pursued.
Significant as the Asia Pacific is for Australian
business, Australia’s trading interests are global,
as therefore are its trade policy and market
development activities. The WTO is of particular
significance to Australia because it is the major
forum for global trade liberalisation and, through
its rules and disciplines, provides a predictable
and more transparent environment for business,
and a means of resolving trade disputes. Australia
is, and will continue to be, an active player in the
WTO, including as an advocate for continued
global market opening and as the leader of the
Cairns Group of agricultural fair traders.
The failure of the Ministerial-level meeting of the
WTO in Seattle in December 1999 to reach
agreement to launch a new round of multilateral
trade negotiations was a setback. The launch of a
new round was, and remains, a major trade policy
focus for Australia. Despite the disappointing
outcome, Australia achieved strong developing
country support for ambitious agriculture reform
proposals, and previously mandated agriculture
and services negotiations were subsequently
begun. Australia will continue its efforts to build
consensus in the international community for the
launch of a new round. In the longer term,
Australia’s objectives in the WTO are to ensure
that the system remains relevant to the needs of
Australian business by extending the rules and
disciplines to new areas of importance; to focus
the WTO work program on key market access
issues; to seek to make world trade in agriculture
free from distortion by subsidies and domestic
support; and to increase access for Australia’s
exports of agricultural products.
The strong Asia Pacific orientation of Australia’s
trade and the importance of liberalising and
facilitating trade in the region help to make APEC
the most significant regional forum in which
Australia participates. APEC economies
committed themselves, in the Declaration by
Leaders in Bogor in 1994, to free and open trade
and investment by 2010 for industrialised
economies and by 2020 for developing
economies. Australia remains committed to this
goal, the implementation of which, if met, would
bring considerable long-term benefits for
Australia and the region. Australia is working in
the short and medium term to ensure substantial
progress in the liberalisation programs of
individual APEC economies.
Attention to financial sector issues has been given
added impetus as economies undertake reform
and restructuring following the advent of the East
Asian economic crisis. There has also been
increased recognition of the importance of direct
business participation in APEC activities. This not
only helps ensure that APEC is tackling the most
important impediments to trade, investment and
economic growth in the region, but can be a
powerful force in encouraging APEC economies
to push ahead with difficult reform decisions.
APEC’s contribution, however, goes beyond trade
and investment, and economic and technical
cooperation issues. It is the only regional forum
which brings together leaders from across the
Asia Pacific. These meetings contribute to habits
of consultation and dialogue, and the
development of personal relationships, which
strengthen trust and confidence among regional
countries.
Australia’s engagement with
the United Nations (UN)
system
Australia pursues important national interests in
the bodies that comprise the UN system. These
interests are engaged primarily in the General
Assembly and its committees as well as
specialised agencies like the World Health
Organization (WHO), and affiliated organisations
such as the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The UN is important to Australia in the core areas
of international security and disarmament,
environment, human rights and development
assistance. Australia plays a strong role in these
and other UN areas such as agriculture, refugees,
health and meteorology. Australia has also been
active in ensuring the acceptance of arms control
treaties, such as the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty, by the UN General Assembly, and in
international environmental negotiations. The
emphasis in the latter is on working towards
international action which contributes to
sustainable development, while protecting
Australia’s national interests.
An ongoing priority for Australia is the reform of
the UN so that it can effectively manage growing
demands with static or declining real resources.
One element of the reform program is improved
efficiency and effectiveness; the UN must
undergo the fiscal discipline and adjustment to
which many governments have already been
subject. Another element is the need to
re-examine the current group system within the