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EU – Australia Free Trade Agreement

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The European Union and Australia are currently negotiating a free trade agreement to promote and increase trade between the two countries. We have already submitted some comments, but there is still a chance to contribute to the discussion and we’d be delighted for your input. The submission will be a collective effort developed by the network of Australian Business in Europe (ABIE) organisations, of which the German Australian Business Council is a member and will be submitted prior to the fourth round of negotiations to be held in Brussels in early July 2019.

 

Share your stories: successes and failures

We would be pleased to hear stories from both Australian and European businesses. The FTA negotiators want to understand the opportunities and challenges faced by businesses, big and small, when seeking to leverage free trade agreements to export their goods and services.

Have you successfully taken advantage of free trade agreements to export into new markets and reaped the rewards? This may have been in established markets such as the US or in developing markets such as northern Asia.

Or, did you try but it was a frustrating and unsuccessful experience? Are you wary of the risks or costs involved in exporting?

For either outcome, your stories and experiences are valuable to the negotiation process. DFAT is particularly interested in details of specific obstacles to trade and investment that the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement could address.

Topics of interest in the Free Trade Agreement negotiations

Key topics discussed during the negotiations to date have included:

  • Trade in Goods
  • Rules of Origin
  • Customs and Trade Facilitation
  • Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters
  • Trade Remedies
  • State-owned enterprises
  • Competition and Subsidies
  • Government Procurement
  • Technical Barriers to Trade
  • Services and Investment
  • E-Commerce/Digital Trade
  • Intellectual Property
  • SPS and Animal Welfare
  • Trade and Sustainable Development
  • Energy and Raw Materials
  • Dispute Settlement
  • Transparency and Good Regulatory Practices
  • Small and Medium Enterprises

How to participate in the ABIE submission

To participate or if you have any questions, please contact GABC Office Administrator, Elizabeth Matters, at office@gabc.eu. She will collate the feedback from German Australian Business Council members which will be complied and included within the collective ABIE submission.

If you prefer, your information and stories can be included anonymously.

Make an independent submission

We also encourage both Australian and European companies to make an independent submission to DFAT. For submission information and examples: https://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/negotiations/aeufta/submissions/Pages/submissions.aspx

For background on the Australia-EU FTA negotiations:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-a-balanced-and-progressive-trade-policy-to-harness-globalisation/file-eu-australia-fta

https://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/negotiations/aeufta/Pages/default.aspx

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/australia/

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/december/tradoc_157565.pdf

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1865

Australian Parliament Building

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New Australian Government Announced by Prime Minister

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After the Australian elections, the new (old) Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has announced the new cabinet lineup for the Australian Government, as reported by the ABC here.

The government includes a number of women ministers – seven, which is an all-time high for Australia – and the country’s first indigenous cabinet minister, Ken Wyatt, who will serve as the Minister for Indigenous Affairs. Josh Frydenberg will be the Treasurer, whilst fluent German speaker Mathias Corman will remain in government as minister for Finance. The exiting minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, retains her responsibilities.

The full list of ministers in the Australian Government is

Prime Minister
Minister for the Public Service
The Hon Scott Morrison MP

Minister for Indigenous Australians
The Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP

Deputy Prime Minister
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Regional Development
The Hon Michael McCormack MP

Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management
The Hon David Littleproud MP

Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure
The Hon Alan Tudge MP

Treasurer
The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP

Minister for Finance
(Vice-President of the Executive Council)
(Leader of the Government in the Senate)
Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann

Minister for Agriculture
Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie

Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Women
Senator the Hon Marise Payne

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment
(Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate)
Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham

Attorney-General
Minister for Industrial Relations
(Leader of the House)
The Hon Christian Porter MP

Minister for Health
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Cabinet
The Hon Greg Hunt MP

Minister for Home Affairs
The Hon Peter Dutton MP

Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts
The Hon Paul Fletcher MP

Minister for Education
The Hon Daniel Tehan MP

Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business
Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology
The Hon Karen Andrews MP

Minister for Resources and Northern Australia
Senator the Hon Matthew Canavan

Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction
The Hon Angus Taylor MP

Minister for the Environment
The Hon Sussan Ley MP

Minister for Defence
Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC

Minister for Families and Social Services
(Manager of Government Business in the Senate)
Senator the Hon Anne Ruston

Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Minister for Government Services
The Hon Stuart Robert MP

AfterPay Logo

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AfterPay Australia becomes ClearPay in the UK

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Australian-based Afterpay has had to re-brand itself ClearPay for its launch into the European marketplace. Its brand name “Afterpay” was already taken by a Dutch company and the Australian company’s trade mark registration was opposed, according to a story AfterPay Logoin the Sydney Morning Herald. The two services are similar – both intending to enable online shopping to be simpler and safer. They differ in that the Australian company’s service enables instalment payments – similar to the traditional “layby” schemes – whereas the Arvato enables post-payment of purchased goods.

Afterpay will use its arrow logo across the different markets and hopes that this will provide the necessary brand recognition.

The case shows the importance for Australian companies of getting trade mark registrations in place early in all potential future markets to ensure that there is no need to re-brand. In this case, Afterpay had an alternative name available to it in the UK that it could use. However, alternative brands are not always easily available and it’s important to get trademark registrations in place early. Merely putting a domain name in place is unlikely to be sufficient – at the latest when a competitor files for its own similar or identical trademark.

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GABC represented on Deutsche Welle’s Business Programs

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The German Australian Business Council was represented on Deutsche Welle’s Business and Business Asia Programs on the 17th of May 2019 by Board Chair, Sabine Pittrof. A variety of topics such as renewable energy, the Australian election and the upcoming Australian-EU Free Trade agreement were discussed.

 

 

A link to the full interviews can be found below:

https://www.dw.com/en/dw-business-europe/av-48772457

https://www.dw.com/en/dw-business-asia/av-48778957

Lynette Wood - Austrlian Ambassador

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Rheinmetall Land Vehicles on their way to Australia

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The first of the Rheinmetall boxer land vehicles for the Australian Defence Forces were recently inspected by the German Australian Business Council’s Patron, Ambassador Lynette Wood. As has already been announced, Rheinmetall will be establishing a production facility in Ipswich, Queensland, to manufacture land vehicles in the future.

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No-Deal Brexit will benefit Australia

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Brexit will benefit Australia according to a report by the Bertelsmann Stiftung

The AFR reports that a study by two economists found that Australia could be €840 million ($1.3 billion) a year better off if Britain heads into a no-deal Brexit next month (about €34 per Australian resident). The benefit basically reflects a change in the terms of the international trade from Australia and, as the AFR reports, the benefit is neither direct, certain nor permanent.

Australia does not benefit as much the Americans, where the per-capita gain is €41.

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Art Exhibition and Concert, 12th April, 2019

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The German Ambassador to Australia and Patron and President of Art Circle Residence, H. E. Dr Anna Prinz, is pleased to invite German Australian Business Council Members and Friends to an exhibition and concert at Hofgut Battenberg (Pfalz) on the 12th of April, 2019 from  5pm.

More information can be found on the website www.artcircleresidence.net 

All enquires should be directed to the organisers using the email: artcircleresidence@gmail.com

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Queensland and Berlin sign Declaration on Intent in Health Matters

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The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, and the Premier of Queensland, Anastacia Palaszczuk, have just signed a Declaration of Intent to cooperate in the field of health.

Michael Schütz

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Brisbane – German Science and Innovation Day

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Brisbane German Week is an annual event to highlight the relationships between Germany and Australia, and more particularly with Queensland and its capital Brisbane. This year’s science and innovation day was held at the Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point Campus. Organised by Prof. Michael Rosemann, Honorary Consul for Germany in the city and also Professor for Information Systems at QUT, other universities from South East Queensland also participated.

Students and Presenters

Students and Presenters at Science and Innovation Day at Brisbane German Week

Attended by around 100 people in total the day brought students and academics together to discuss their research and how German Ph.D. students worked in Australian universities – as well as discussions on how Australians had coped in a German research environment. A number of case studies were presented of successful collaborations and a panel outlined funding opportunities for study abroad and support for research.

Michael Schütz

Michael Schütz giving keynote lecture at Science and Innovation Day in Brisbane

Prof. Michael Schütz, formerly at Berlin’s Charité hospital and now at QUT gave the keynote speech about bilateral opportunities between Queensland and Berlin and looked forward to the forthcoming visit of Berlin’s mayor to Brisbane where the new health alliance between the states of Berlin and Queensland will be announced.

 

 

Robert Harrison

Robert Harrison at Science and Innovation Day in Brisbane

Our board member Rob Harrison also introduced the work of the German Australian Business Council.

(Photos courtesy of Michael Rosemann/Brisbane German Week)

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New Expat group founded- Frankfurt

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A new group for expatriates has been founded in Frankfurt. Expat Family Frankfurt aims to bring together members of the international community in the city for networking and social activities. For more information, please access their website at:https://www.expat-family.de/.