This Report contains the Committee’s review of three treaty actions:
Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic regarding the Provision of Mutual Logistics Support between the Australian Defence Force and the French Armed Forces;
World Trade Organization (WTO) Revised Agreement on Government Procurement (Annex to the Protocol Amending the Agreement on Government Procurement, adopted on 30 March 2012 (GPA/113)); and
Treaty between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United Arab Emirates concerning Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
The purpose of the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic regarding the Provision of Mutual Logistics Support between the Australian Defence Force and the French Armed Forces is to establish basic terms, conditions and procedures for the mutual provision of logistic supplies and services to the military forces of Australia and France. French law requires a treaty-level agreement in order for such support to occur. The Agreement will enable the Australian and French defence forces to provide each other with logistic services in return for either a cash payment or the reciprocal provision of logistic supplies and services of equal value.
The Revised Agreement on Government Procurement enables Australia to accede to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) on the terms agreed between Australia and the Parties to the GPA, as set out in the Decision of the Committee on Government Procurement. The Agreement will provide legally binding rules for market access for Australian goods, service and construction suppliers to access the government procurement markets of GPA Parties. Australia has negotiated a range of exceptions including for small and medium enterprises and Indigenous businesses.
The Treaty between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United Arab Emirates concerning Transfer of Sentenced Persons allows Australian nationals imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and UAE nationals imprisoned in Australia to apply to serve the remainder of their sentences in their home countries. The Agreement completes a suite of bilateral crime cooperation treaties between the two countries. Transfer applications are initiated by the prisoners themselves. However, both governments determine a prisoner’s eligibility for transfer and the appropriate terms of sentence enforcement prior to a prisoner’s transfer.
The Committee has recommended that all three treaty actions be ratified.
The Report also contains the Committee’s review of the following four minor treaty actions:
Transposition of Annex 2 (Product Specific Rules) of the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area;
2018 Amendment to Annexes I and II of the International Convention against Doping in Sport;
2018 Amendments to the Annex to the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments; and
2018 Amendments to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto Resolution MEPC.301(72).