This Report contains the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties’ review of two treaty actions:
Exchange of notes amending the Agreement on Consular Relations between Australia and the People’s Republic of China and Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China concerning the Continuation of the Consular Functions by Australia in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Canberra, 9 May 2016); and
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Kigali, 15 October 2016).
The proposed Amendments to the China-Macau agreements relate to the consular relations between the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Macau in the People’s Republic of China, and the Government of Australia.
Australia has a strong commercial presence in Macau, which includes the design, construction and fit out of casinos, as well as other commercial interests in the marinas and entertainment precinct of Macau.
Consular relations between Australia and Macau currently operate under a different agreement than the rest of China, as China had not resumed control of the region when the Australia-China consular relations agreement was signed.
The purpose of the amendments is to bring the SAR under the auspices of the China Agreement, providing better procedural clarity for managing consular cases in Macau.
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer aims to facilitate the global phase down of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production and use between 2019 and 2036.
HFCs are high global warming potential substances, commonly used in air conditioning and refrigerants.
The Agreement also provides for developed countries to provide financial and technical support to developing countries to assist them in compliance with the Amendment. These provisions are in line with previous amendments to the Montreal Protocol.
Australia has accepted all six previous amendments to the Protocol and has already implemented domestic legislation to begin a HFC phase down from 2018.
The measure has been supported by industries that use HFCs in production.
The Committee recommends the ratification of both treaty actions.
The report also contains the Committee’s review of two minor treaty actions:
Lodgement of the Declaration on the Effective Date for Exchange of Information under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information; and
Lodgement of the Declaration on the Effective Date for Exchange of Information under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Country-by-Country Reports.