UK Statement at Australia's World Trade Organization Trade Policy Review. Delivered by the UK's Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN, Simon Manley.
Thank you very much Chair. Let me join others in offering a very warm welcome to the Acting First Assistant Secretary and his team here in Geneva and Ambassador Baxter. We are very grateful to Australia and to the WTO Secretariat for their reports, and to you Chair and to the Discussant for your insights.
Chair, it would have not escaped your notice that Australia is one of the closest allies and our relationship continues to go from strength to strength, underpinned by the strong security, trade and investment links, close personal ties - and of course our mutual passion for cricket, Kylie Minogue and indeed Neighbours. We are both members of the Commonwealth, the G20, the OECD, and, with thanks to Australia's recent ratification of the UK's accession, the CPTPP. We share a similar outlook, as reflected in the First Assistant Secretary's comments this morning, driven by the pursuit of open, values-based democracy and a rules-based international system.
Bilateral Trade
We have a consistently strong economic relationship: bilateral trade worth £22 billion each year and mutual investment in excess of £800 billion. And our trade relations have been clearly furthered by the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which was referred to this morning. That deal eliminates tariffs on the vast majority of bilateral trade, makes it easier to travel between our two countries and guarantees an equal footing for many of our investors and services providers. Our work together on that FTA resulted in, as we look upon, as a modern and comprehensive trade agreement between our countries, which provides, we hope, a strong basis for our trade and bilateral relationship with Australia, and also to the growth of our relations in the future.
Chair, I would like to highlight the progress we have made through the Strategic Innovation Dialogue to highlight one of our successes, found in the world's first Innovation Chapter in a Free Trade Agreement. Discussions focusing on key areas such as Future Health, Offshore Wind, Battery Manufacturing and the Interoperability of AI enabled goods, have been channelled through a joint-work programme, that brings together representatives from government, the private sector and academia to explore the impact of innovation on trade and trade policy.
And our shared values include our joint recognition of animals as sentient beings and the connection between improved welfare of farmed animals and sustainable food production systems. Together, we established a world-leading precedent for a standalone animal welfare chapter in a Free Trade Agreement, which sets out our commitment to sharing expertise, to improve practices, through an Animal Welfare Working Group.
4. And as part of that FTA, we have agreed to deepen cooperation to advance gender equality and the human rights of all women and girls, including through a strategic dialogue on gender equality. That marks, I believe, Australia's first FTA to feature a dedicated chapter on gender equality, and that chapter complements provisions which advance gender equality throughout the Agreement in the chapters on Labour, SMEs, Digital and Financial Services.
- As a Co-Chair of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, I would like to welcome and pay tribute to Australia's role as a founding member of the IWG and their active engagement in that Group. And indeed Australia was amongst the five winners of our first International Prize on Gender Equality in Trade, with a programme which is having a transformative impact for advancing women's economic empowerment across Southeast Asia. Thank you and congratulations for that.
Economic Security
Chair, our strong, allied collaboration extends to our shared priorities of upholding international rules and deterring hostile actions. We recently held a second UK-Australia Economic Security Dialogue, which champions our joint work on this matter, aiming to deepen our shared understanding of the current global economic security challenges and to share lessons on approaches and partnerships to strengthen our economic security and our bilateral partnership.
For us, for both of us, a rules-based international order and open global economy are fundamental; fundamental to our economic and national security and to our customers, our workers and our businesses so they can continue to enjoy the benefits of the multilateral trading system. International trade plays a central role in both our economies, with trade activity supporting one in four trade jobs I believe in Australia, and we applaud Australia's focus on building economic resilience and challenging unfair trading practices to support global growth.
Climate Leadership
- Chair, Australia's increased ambition on climate policy over the last three years extends well beyond this organisation. We are delighted to endorse Australia's bid to host COP31 in partnership with other Pacific Nations. And we welcome the Australian government's Net Zero Plan, including increased investment in renewables and the phasing out of coal-powered electricity generation, and we look forward to sharing our knowledge on emerging sectors like offshore wind or carbon capture and storage.
Market Access Barriers
Chair, our bilateral trade discussions also continue in FTA subcommittees including our Professional Services Working Group and Legal Services Regulatory Dialogue. So let me take the opportunity to celebrate recent bilateral agreements for architects and auditors. We also welcome Australia's willingness to engage on mutual recognition of professional qualifications, to ensure successes such as these continue. Going forward, we would like to hear more from Australia on its ongoing priorities and approaches, including the efforts at State level.
We also support Australia's ongoing tax reforms which focus on prosperity, productivity and fairness, goals shared by my government. Regarding taxes, in the continued absence of a specific and satisfactory policy rationale, we would like to reiterate our concerns about domestic taxes which disproportionately affect imports, such as the Luxury Car Tax and Alcohol Excise Duty. We would like to hope Australians are able to treat themselves to Scotch Whisky and drive our luxury cars… but perhaps not at the same time.
WTO
Chair, the close ties between our two countries extend of course to this organisation where we work so closely alongside each other and share so many policy objectives. We work together, along with many developing and developed Members, to ensure the sustainability of fishing stocks and to enable the potential of trade in green goods and services.
Australia has, as similarly many others have said this morning, demonstrated its commitment to this organisation and the system by consistently pushing forward concrete outcomes for businesses, for workers and consumers, as is evident in their enthusiastic leadership and participation in the WTO Joint Initiatives. Their efforts as co-convenors of the negotiations on the E-commerce Agreement highlight that and I think led to a large part of the successful stabilisation of that Agreement back in July last year.
Australia's strong ambitions on climate policy are showcased by the commitment to discussing Trade and Environment in this organisation. Their ambitions are underpinned by the efforts to foster dialogue on such issues in their co-coordinator role in the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution.
As the Chair of the Cairns Group, Australia has been a loud, constructive voice in agriculture negotiations in this house, helping discussions progress, including through the Cairns and Africa Group informal discussions. While the UK and Australia don't always agree on preferred outcomes in that area, our strong bond and shared focus on finding solutions brings us together when needed.
Conclusion
- Chair, let me conclude by discussing how the relationship between Australia and the UK goes from strength to strength, and let me conclude on that same note. Our relationship has strengthened enormously in the past few years, and we admire Australia's leadership in this organisation, its commitment to Net Zero, and its views on free and open trade. We continue to host a large, extraordinary number of each other's citizens, enriching both our countries with vibrant exchanges, cherished memories, and of course Tim Tams and Penguins. And, as we look forward to the oldest and greatest rivalry in the sporting world, the Ashes, we can say, with utter confidence, let the best team win. Which of course will be England.
Thank you, Chair.
