16:23 Fri 04 Jun 2004 REF:ZXAAEC32
Y/R: Senate Inquiry
TO: The Chair FROM: Stephen GOULD
Australian Senate Inquiry Chair - Management Committee
AUSTRALIA - UNITED STATES XML & E-commerce Special Interest Group
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT OPEN INTERCHANGE CONSORTIUM
Dear Sir/Madam
SUPPLEMENTARY SUBMISSION FOR SENATE HEARING TUE 08 JUN 2004
I, on behalf of the Management Committee of the XML & E-commerce Special Interest Group [XZIG],
would like to thank the Senate FTA Inquiry Committee for this occasion to address this
Committee on how the Free Trade Agreement provides one of those rare opportunities for
Australia to make a worthwhile, tangible contribution to assist Free Trade Facilitation
This is an Intellectual Property contribution not only for the Australia-US Free Trade
Agreement but computer software that can be used by any nation that wishes to exchange trade
documents electronically.
This is an additional submission to the submission that was made on 30 April 2004 to meet the
deadline.
This additional Submission is made following a more detailed review of the Free Trade Agreement
[FTA] particularly:
1 Chapter 6 - Customs Administration
2 Chapter 8 - Technical Barriers to Trade
3 Chapter 15 - Government Procurement
4 The report commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [DFAT] from the
Centre of International Economics [CIE] to provide the justification for the Australian
- United States Free Trade Agreement.
This additional submission comprises:
A Management Summary
B Chapter 8: Standards and Trade Facilitation
C Chapter 15: Government Procurement
D Chapter 16: E-commerce
E Current E-Commerce problems as specified by Australian Ports
F Assisting SMEs responding to Government Procurement tenders
G Committee exchanging information effectively
H Minimising Dispute Resolution processes for SMEs
A MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
Although this is not a technical committee that may understand the technical issues involved,
I am sure this Committee will appreciate the financial returns to Australia if it provides
the electronic framework for any country involved with a Free Trade Agreement.
The Free Trade Agreement provides an opportunity for Australia to capitalise on research that
has been carried out here in Australia over the last 15 years on Electronic Trade facilitation
particularly for Small & Medium size Enterprises.
The research includes a long (since 1988) understanding of the various standards as outlined
in Chapter 8 required for Trade Facilitation including:
1 the Customs Harmonised System,
2 ISO 9735 EDIFACT [Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Trade],
3 ISO 7372 - Trade Data Elements,
4 ISO 8601 - Electronic Date and Time and
5 Extensible Markup Language [XML].
Members of the Open Interchange Consortium [OIC] have been involved in developing a number of
Intellectual Property Software applications to support the framework outlined in the Free
Trade Agreement.
These Intellectual Property Applications include:
1 Electronic Trade Facilitation using United Nations Standards
2 Government Procurement via the Electronic Tendering process
3 Electronic Committee Management for the various Work Groups and Dispute Resolution
Panels
Whilst the Free Trade Agreement does not specifically state that Electronic Trade Facilitation
is required, it is succinctly implied because:
1 Chapter 6: Customs Administration. Any import or export documentation can only be
submitted to Customs electronically using the Customs Harmonised Systems
2 Chapter 8: Technical Barriers to Trade. This Chapter applies to all standards,
technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures of the central government
that may, directly or indirectly, affect trade in any product between the Parties
3 Chapter 15: Government Procurement. Many US and Australian Federal, State and Local
Government sites now not only provide Government procurement Tenders electronically
but require tender submissions to be sent electronically.
4 Chapter 16: Electronic Commerce. Article 16.7 Paperless Trade Administration. This
article requires all trade administration documentation to be available electronically.
The OIC XML & E-commerce Special Interest Group [XZIG] provides a unique team of IT Management
and Development skills.
Two of the members Guy BLOMBERG and Stephen GOULD have been involved with understanding EDI and
International Trade issues since 1987 when responding to a tender for Electronic Documentation
Methodology for the NSW Maritime Services Board - further details on the projects are provided
As a result of that presentation they were invited to provide a quotation to the Australian Port
and Marine Authorities [AAPMA] to implement an e-Commerce System in Australian Ports {A}
The need to understand these Standards was initially bought to our attention in 1988 by a
letter from Alain BELLEGO Chief of Trade Facilitation United Nations {B}
Between 1991-1993 Stephen GOULD spent two years in Europe working with a number of European
organisations to understand the strategy for the implementation of electronic Trade
Facilitation and Electronic Information Interchange [EII].
These organisations include:
1 UK Customs
2 European Customs
3 UK Article Numbering Association [ANA]
4 European Numbering Association [EAN]
5 British Standards Institute [BSI]
6 European Aerospace Association [ACEMA]
7 UK Institution of Electrical Engineers [IEE]
During this period several industries were able to implement EDI networks world-wide.
These Industries include:
1 Customs
2 Banks - through SWIFT Network
3 Re-insurance companies - through RINET Network (C)
1 Founders of RINET 1987
2 Number of members World-wide 1991
Recently the Australian Superannuation industry was able to develop an XML Standard under the
guidance of Keith FINKELDE Director Superannuation Industry Association of Australia and
Chairman of ebXML Australia.
Stephen GOULD represented the OIC on the ebXML Australia Committee for 3 years from 2001-2003
until it was disbanded in 2003
Although a number of Financial Industry groups have been able to develop and implement
E-Business Standards world-wide, few other Industry Peak Bodies have been able develop
E-Business standards for their industry members to facilitate more effective Trading
relationships.
The major problem for most other Industry peak bodies is the lack of understanding by key
Management of the issues involved with E-commerce and the transport cycle.
An prime example of this is the Submission by Ben ANSON E-Commerce Consultant Sydney Ports
Corporation in Dec 2003 to the Australian Treasury Public Consultation "E-commerce, A Best
Practice Model for Business" (D}.
The submission highlighted the problems that Australian ports have with E-commerce.
This report is 16 years after we submitted a response to the request for a quotation for an
EDI System in Australian Ports by Peter BROWN Executive Director The Association of Australian
Port and Marine Authorities [AAPMA]
The report by Ben ANSON highlights the problems E-commerce for Australian Ports that have
different formats for the ships Manifest.
SAME PROBLEM FOR GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
The same problem is arising for Australian State Governments with their e-tender systems.
In 1993 Stevan GILLMORE and Stephen GOULD attended an EDI meeting in Brussels and learned that
Government Procurement would be the cornerstone of the Government e-Business Cycle along with
Business Associations.
At that time virtually every other Building in Brussels contained the European Headquarters of
another Business Association
In 1994 the OIC was formed and after key members like Commonwealth Bank and AIDC supported the
initial research the OIC Web site was launched in 1998.
The initial project was Electronic Association Information Management {EAIM}. The EAIM
prototype was funded by an ISP called Ourworld Global Network [OGN], AIDC and The
Commonwealth Bank.
After the prototype had been developed OIC members developed another E-commerce application to
address the Y2K Due Diligence process for Small and Medium size Enterprises.
This project was funded by Business Management Trust and Halisa International
This E-commerce application would provide regular automatic Electronic certificates for SMEs to
show their Trading partners to progress being made with what was called Y2K Remediation ie if
you have 100 PCs and 30 were not Y2K compliant monthly reports would show the Compliance
Progress.
This project won 1st prize in the "IT for SME" category of the prestigious Global Bangemann
Challenge.
The King of Sweden presented the Trophy to Guy BLOMBERG at Stockholm Town Hall
The 3rd Application that the OIC XML & E-commerce Development group developed was the Tender
Information Management Service [TIMS].
This was developed because many of our members are consultants who used to review the Tenders
in The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Australian each week.
Government Procurement is a key component of the Free Trade Agreement.
Chapter 15 is dedicated to Government Procurement.
For US companies to be able to bid for Australian Federal and State Government contracts it
will have to be electronically
In Chapter 15, Article 15.5: Time Limits starts to place great emphasis on conforming with
tight schedules.
The schedule laid down for Tender Time Limits is:
1 30 days - normal
2 10 days - minimum
3 5 days - exceptional circumstances
In Government tenders there are a multitude of dates including:
1 Time and Date of Briefing
2 Time and Date for Registration for Briefing
3 Time and Date when Questions have to be provided
4 Time and Date when Responses will be provided
5 Time and Date for Submission
Depending on the type of tender - and there are over 20 different types of tenders, there will
be a number of problems with different time zones, locations and certifying whether a response
has complied with the timetable laid out.
This is why the OIC XML & E-commerce team developed an Electronic ASCII Date and Time code
based on one of three primary options of the ISO Standard 8601.
The members of the OIC XZIG Committee who have contributed to that submission include:
Stephen GOULD Chair
Ken BROMFIELD OIC Website developer
Guy BLOMBERG OICY2KRAMP Database Consultant
Lars SORHUS TIMS Developer
NB - This submission was tabled as incomplete to the Senate Inquiry on Tue 08 Jun 2004.
It was not completed due to additional research that was required to ascertain whether the US
was deceitful in not disclosing that it had legislated for ANSI-X12 for financial transaction.
This additional research and subsequent letters to Australian Senate members can be reviewed on
confirmation of US deceit and sleight-of-electronic hand