Customs Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill 2018 and another

The majority voted against an amendment that would add sunsetting clauses to the bills, which means it failed. Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick, who introduced the amendment, explained that:

the objective of this amendment is to include a sunset clause so that unless bilateral side letters are exchanged relating to ISDS provisions and labour market testing by 1 January 2020 this legislation is repealed. We believe that these amendments will allow the TPP-11 to enter into force but signal to other countries that Australia is planning to remove the ISDS clauses and reinstate labour market testing. If those arrangements haven't been made, the legislation will then be repealed.

What do these bills do?

The two bills are:

• Customs Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill 2018; and
• Customs Tariff Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill 2018.

The bills were introduced to implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11). Their basic purpose is to implement the customs dimensions of the TPP-11 Agreement by making relevant amendments to the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995. Read more in the bills digest.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 1, item 3, page 8 (after line 6), at the end of Subdivision A, add:

153ZKUA Cessation of effect of Division

This Division ceases to have effect on 1 January 2020 unless all of the following come into force for Australia before that day:

(a) bilateral side letters exchanged between Australia and each other Party agreeing that Chapter 9 of the Agreement, which deals with investor-State disputes, does not apply in relation to an investment in Australia by an investor of the other Party;

(b) bilateral side letters exchanged between Australia and each other Party agreeing that labour market testing must occur in relation to contractual service suppliers entering, or proposing to enter, Australia from the other Party.

(2) Schedule 1, item 4, page 19 (after line 18), at the end of Division 4EB, add:

126AKM Cessation of effect of Division

This Division ceases to have effect on 1 January 2020 unless all of the following come into force for Australia before that day:

(a) bilateral side letters exchanged between Australia and each other Party agreeing that Chapter 9 of the Agreement, which deals with investor-State disputes, does not apply in relation to an investment in Australia by an investor of the other Party;

(b) bilateral side letters exchanged between Australia and each other Party agreeing that labour market testing must occur in relation to contractual service suppliers entering, or proposing to enter, Australia from the other Party.