Australian Department of Defense,
The Australia-United States of America (US) Treaty on Defense Trade Cooperation will provide greater access and sharing of equipment, technology, information and services between the two countries.
It is a significant step forward in the defence relationship between Australia and the US. The US currently only has a similar agreement with the United Kingdom.
The treaty will permit the licence-free export of defence goods and services between the Australian and US Governments and Australian and US companies that meet security and regulatory requirements.
For Australia, the Treaty will significantly reduce delays in acquiring in-service support for US defence equipment by eliminating lengthy licencing processes, reduce lead times before Australian and US companies can discuss potential business opportunities, and allow early access to US technical data and technology for consideration during the Defence Capability development process.
2361 licences and 312 agreements were approved by the US for Australia in 2006. The removal of the requirement for the approval of licences or agreements will create significant cost and time savings for Government and industry.
The Treaty creates a comprehensive framework for two way trade between Australia and the United States in defence articles, including equipment, spare parts, services and related technical data, within an 'approved community' of government facilities and private companies in the United States and Australia without the need for licences.
Eligible exports will include exports for:
– Mutually determined security and defence projects where the Commonwealth of Australia is the end-user;
– Cooperative security and defence research, development, production and support programs;
– Combined military or counter-terrorism operations.
The treaty will provide:
– operational benefits from greater access to US capability for sustainment and support;
– improvements to capability development due to earlier access to US data and technology;
– cost and time savings from significant reductions in the number of licences, required for export of Defence equipment;
– improved access for Australian companies involved in bidding on US defence requirements, or in supporting US equipment in the ADF inventory.
Implementing agreements will be finalised over the coming months. Each country will also need to complete processes under their respective domestic laws to bring the treaty into force.
The ‘Approved Community’
The approved community will include the Australian and US Governments and companies in both countries that have been qualified to receive licence-free exports under the Treaty.
The details of the qualification program, including the qualification criteria, have still to be mutually determined.
Security
Australian defence companies in the approved community will need to meet the required accreditation and compliance standards.
Accreditation standards include areas that are currently the subject of existing arrangements such as facility clearance, business history, export licencing and compliance record and relationships to countries of concern.
Legislation
The creation of an approved community will require changes to legislation to ensure that export control and security are sufficiently robust to ensure that sensitive technologies and data are not provided outside of the approved community.
Key legislation that may require amendments are the Customs Act 1901, Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958 and Weapons of Mass Destruction (Prevention of Proliferation) Act 1995 (WMD Act).
