Resolution of Appointment
The Resolution of Appointment of the Joint Standing Committee
on Treaties allows it to inquire into and report on:
a)
matters arising from treaties and related National Interest Analyses and
proposed treaty actions and related Explanatory Statements presented or deemed
to be presented to the Parliament;
b)
any question relating to a treaty or other international instrument,
whether or not negotiated to completion, referred to the committee by:
(i)
either House of the Parliament, or
(ii)
a Minister; and
c)
such other matters as may be referred to the committee by the Minister
for Foreign Affairs and on such conditions as the Minister may prescribe.
List of recommendations
3 The National Interest Analysis
Recommendation 1
That National Interest Analyses of treaties clearly intended
to have an economic impact include an assessment of the economic benefits and
costs of the treaty, or, if no assessment of the economic benefit of a treaty
has been undertaken, a statement to that effect, along with an explanation as
to why it was not necessary or unable to be undertaken.
Recommendation 2
That the Australian Government commissions an independent and
transparent assessment of the economic and social benefits and costs of the Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement.
5 Copyright
Recommendation 3
That, in circumstances where a treaty includes the
introduction of new criminal penalties, the treaty’s National Interest Analysis
justify the proposed new penalties.
Recommendation 4
That the Australian Government publishes the individual
protections that will be read into the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
(ACTA) from the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement
and how the protections will apply in relation to the enforcement provisions
contained in ACTA.
Recommendation 5
That the Australian Government clarify and publish the meaning
of “aiding and abetting” as it applies to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement.
Recommendation 6
That the Australian Government clarify and publish the meaning
of “commercial scale” as it applies to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement.
6 Intellectual Property
Recommendation 7
In the event that the Australian Government ratifies the Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement (ACTA), the Government prepares legislation to:
Exclude
patents from the application of the civil enforcement and border measures parts
of ACTA;
Ensure
that products produced in Australia as a result of the invalidation of a patent
or part of a patent in Australia are not subject to the counterfeiting
prohibition in ACTA; and
Ensure
that the expression ‘counterfeit’ in ACTA is not applied to generic medicines
entered or eligible for entry on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.
8 Conclusion
Recommendation 8
That the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement not be
ratified by Australia until the:
Joint
Standing Committee on Treaties has received and considered the independent and
transparent assessment of the economic and social benefits and costs of the
Agreement referred to in Recommendation 2;
Australian Law Reform
Commission has reported on its Inquiry into Copyright and the Digital Economy;
and the
Australian
Government has issued notices of clarification in relation to the terms of the
Agreement as recommended in the other recommendations of this report.
Recommendation 9
In considering its recommendation on whether or not to ratify
the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a future Joint
Standing Committee on Treaties have regard to events related to ACTA in other
relevant jurisdictions including the European Union and the United States of
America.