Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth

Ai Group welcomed the opportunity to provide a submission to the joint standing committee on the understanding and utilisation of benefits under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Considering the significant investment made by successive Australian governments in implementing FTAs, it is crucial to ensure that the agreements result in a positive outcome for Australian traders.

Ai Group welcomes the Government’s commitment to assessing FTA utilisation. Although significant efforts are made to evaluate the potential impacts of FTAs during the negotiation phase, there is often a lack of evaluation regarding how these agreements perform in actual trading conditions after they are implemented. This inquiry presents a timely chance to initiate such an assessment process and tackle the barriers that hinder the advantages of FTAs.