Economic theory suggests that bilateral agreements such as the free trade agreement will lead to the creation of trade between the parties directly concerned, but will also lead to a diversion of trade from third countries, offsetting the possible benefits. Bilateral agreements can also undermine multilateral agreements such as those associated with the World Trade Organization. Partly because of these factors, the benefit estimates prepared by the CIE and used by the government were challenged by most economists who submitted contributions to Senate committees dealing with the issue, some of whom concluded that the agreement would reduce Australia`s economic prosperity. In Australia, the implementing legislation for the agreement, the United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act of 2004, was reluctantly passed by the Senate on August 13, 2004 with amendments. ==References=====External links===The administration accepted the amended Australian legislation as compatible with the implementation of the agreement. [Citation needed] The agreement requires the legal enforcement of digital rights management systems, however, an Australian legislative committee has published a report stating that this part of the contract has a ”significant flaw”: while the agreement provides for permitted exceptions that allow the use of devices to circumvent copyright access, it also prohibits access to tools used for such circumvention. The report calls it a ”regrettable and inexcusable error”, a ”flagrant error” and even a ”mistake bordering on absurdity”. The committee expressed its firm belief that the government must find a solution to the error before implementing this part of the treaty. [4] The agricultural part of the agreement describes the system of eliminating most tariffs on agricultural products traded between the two countries. Export subsidies should also be eliminated if the product in question is exported to one of the two country Parties. · Promotes the development of an online system for the registration and maintenance of trademarks and a searchable database. The text of the Free Trade Agreement is divided into twenty-three sections, listed and summarised as follows: · The focus is on promoting compliance through consultations, joint action plans and trade-enhancing remedies. Latham reacted unexpectedly by conditioning Labour`s support for the free trade agreement on a change meant to protect PBS.

[9] This effectively turned the situation around on Howard: when the government dismissed the change as unnecessary, it opened up to allegations that it was not protecting Australian interests; In supporting the amendment, it tacitly admitted that the original terms of the agreement were inadequate. The bill was eventually amended and passed. · An innovative enforcement mechanism includes fines to enforce trade, labour and environmental obligations under the trade agreement. The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) is a preferential trade agreement between Australia and the United States modelled on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). AUSFTA was signed on 18 May 2004 and officially entered into force on 1 January 2005. · By implementing these principles, Australia will make a number of improvements to its Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme (PbS) procedures – including the establishment of an independent process to review product listings – which will improve transparency and accountability in the operation of the PBS. Chapter Two of the FTA sets out the conditions under which types of goods are subject to non-discriminatory treatment. Some types of goods are immediately fully applicable to the contract and some are phased in over a period of several years or are temporarily applicable.

· The principle of ”first in time, first in law” applies to trademarks and geographical indications, so that the first person to acquire a right in a trademark or geographical indication is the person who has the right to use it. International Trade Commission Publication 3722: This publication contains HTSUS General Note 28 and a list of goods that became duty-free at the time of entry into force, as well as the timing of phase-out phases for goods that become duty-free over time. According to Shiro Armstrong of the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, who has collected more than 10 years of data from the Productivity Commission, it shows that Australian and US trade with the rest of the world has declined due to AUSFTA after controlling for country-specific factors – that there has been trade diversion. Estimates also suggest that trade between Australia and the United States has declined due to the implementation of AUSFTA – even after taking into account country-specific factors. [15] Shiro Armstrong also concludes that Australia and the United States have reduced their trade with the rest of the world by $53 billion and are in a worse situation than they would have been without the agreement. [16] According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the trade imbalance is between the United States…