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[email protected] Website: www.aftinet.org.au ABN 83 659 681 462 ACN 097 603 131 AFTINET Bulletin No. 48, 22 November 2002 If you would like to contribute to the Bulletin, please contact Pat Ranald via email at
[email protected]. Our website is www.aftinet.org.au. Contents 1. Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement: Call for Submissions by 15 January 2003 2. Points for Submissions 3. All the Way with the USA: Sydney Morning Herald article, 15 November 2002 1. Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement: Call for Submissions by 15 January 2003 The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Office of Trade Negotiations has called for public submissions on the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Australia and the United States. The proposed FTA has met with widespread criticism from community groups, including AFTINET, because of the unequal bargaining situation for Australia, in economic terms we are a mouse bargaining with an elephant. The US has targeted important Australian social policies as barriers to trade. The US wants abolition of the Foreign Investment Review Board, an end to Australian content rules in film and television, the abolition of the pharmaceutical benefits scheme and reductions in quarantine standards. The National Farmers' Federation has criticised this agenda and said that they are doubtful that any gains would be made in access to US agricultural markets. All the Opposition Parties, including the Australian Labor Party, have also been strongly critical of the proposed agreement.