2003/12/19 OIC Member Submissions to the Federal Treasury "E-Commerce Best Practice Model"

1999/11/25 OIC Submission Federal Treasury "E-commerce Public Consultations"

SUBMISSION AUSTRALIA-US DRAFT FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

20:07 Tue 11 May 2004					REF:ZXAAED31
								Y/R: JSCOT Inquiry

TO:	Julia Morris			FROM:	Stephen GOULD
	Inquiry Secretary			Chair Management Committee
	Joint Standing Committee 		XZIG
	On Treaties				OIC
	AUSTRALIA - UNITED STATES	
	FREE TRADE AGREEMENT		

Dear Julia

Further to our submission to the Senate Inquiry on Fri 30 Apr 2004, your e-mail Mon 03 May 2004
and my conversation with Trish TYSON JSCT Secretariat at the Public Hearing in the Jubilee Room 
Parliament House Sydney on Thu 06 May 2004,  I understand late submissions will be accepted 
until 23 May 2004.

This is a Submission from the Management Committee of the XML & E-commerce Special Interest
Group [XZIG] of the Open Interchange Consortium [OIC] Electronic Business Association.

This submission comprises a review of the following chapters of the draft Free Trade Agreement:

1 	c16 - E-commerce							 3 pages
2	c17 - Intellectual Property						29 pages
3	c21 - Dispute Settlement						11 pages
	1	Remuneration Panelists
	2	Alternative Dispute resolution for SME Trading Partners 
	3	Electronic Notary

To assist the Senate Inquiry the background to the members of the OIC XZIG Management Committee 
is provided.

The index for the submission is:

A	Management Summary
B	Background members of the OIC XZIG Management Committee
C	Experience with Electronic Commerce Implementations
D	Intellectual Property Royalties
E	Dispute Settlement
F	Submissions Reviewed from JSCT Web-site

A	MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

It is interesting to note that in the Free Trade Agreement only 3 pages are dedicated to 
Electronic Commerce while 29 pages focus on Intellectual Property and 11 pages outline Dispute
Resolution issues with clearly defined timetables and panels for Dispute Resolution.

The deadline for the first Public Consultation on the proposed Trade Agreement was 15 Jan 2004. 
There were 200 Submission comprising 60 from peak industry and business organisations.

When the draft Trade Agreement was announced on 06 Mar 2004 the Australian Joint Steering Committee 
Inquiry deadline for Public Submissions was set for Tue 13 April 2004.   I believe that
this deadline has been extended until Sun 23 May 2004.

As at 11 May 2004 there were 190 Submissions registered on the Joint Standing
Committee on Treaties web-site.  

Whilst approximately 60% are individual submissions, 15 Association and company submissions were 
reviewed.

A survey was conducted of other submissions to see if any other submissions provided a review of
Chapter 16 Electronic Commerce of the Free Trade Agreement

20 Submissions were reviewed including those from:

1 	Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network
2 	School of Public Health, La Trobe University
3 	Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)
4 	Faculty of Law  University New South Wales

None of them appear to comment on Chapter 16 Electronic Commerce 

This key focus for this review is the Electronic Commerce mechanism under which the Free Trade 
Agreement would be able to operate particularly to stimulate Small and Medium size Enterprises 
to export to the US marketplace.  

However before reviewing that mechanism perhaps it is an opportune moment to review as a key 
part of Electronic Commerce the whole Business Process of International Trade.  

The key issues for trade are:

1 	Government policies have always based trade on "The Wealth of Nations" which was written
	by Adam SMITH in 1776.

2 	This document became the basis of the paper by Benjamin DISRAELI "The Vindication of the
	British Constitution" to the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel in 1835.  In 1867 Canada was 
	the 1st Empire Country to accept the Constitution.  In 1901 Australia was the 2nd County
	to leave the Empire and join the Commonwealth. 

	The Constitution lists 39 Powers of Parlaiment.  The first Power is "Trade and Commerce".

3 	The Wealth of Nations did not consider "Intellectual Property and Participation" as part
	of the "The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with 
	all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes, and which 
	consist always either in the immediate produce of that labour, or in what is purchased 
	with that produce from other nations".

4 	Governments have used "The Wealth of Nations" to promote trade as a way of providing work
	for populations and collecting taxes via income tax or increasing revenue via import 
	taxes and duties

5	Electronic Commerce and Electronic Information Interchange [EII] provides a higher level
	of business rules that cater for Intellectual Property and reduce the need for expensive
	Dispute resolution processes particularly for Small & Medium size Enterprises [SME].

Key issues for Australian SMEs that become involved with Trade with the USA will include:

1 	The unlikely opportunity that US Government Business will be available to Australian SMEs.
	In Australia, doing business with Australian Government Agencies is a tortuous process 
	and significant contracts are rarely won by Australian SMEs.  Australian SMEs will have
	to work with the Australian subsidiaries of US companies to win US Government businesses 

2 	Administration costs for business particularly Small & Medium size Enterprises 
	particularly with international communication costs

3 	The problems with Time zone differences

4 	Volatile widely fluctuating currency rates 

5 	Fast Dispute Resolution processes not Dispute Resolutions Timetables that extend to years 
	with a requirement for financial lodgments

The initial review of this Free Trade Agreement is that it appears to provide few incentives for
Australian Small & Medium size Enterprises and is a potential source of great cost and 
frustration for SMEs.

B	MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OZIG

The OIC XML & E-commerce Special Interest Group [XZIG] was formed in 1999.  The formation members
included Sun Microsystems, Halisa International Network, Software Engineering Australia and 
Software AG.

In 2001 the OIC joined ebXML Australia which was established to stimulate XML E-commerce 
Standards for Australian business 

Following discussions with Keith FINKELDE Chair ebXML Australia, Director Superannuation 
Industry Association and other ebXML members at OIC XZIG seminars during 2002 it was agreed that
the UN/EDIFACT Standard did not provide a suitable name and address format for E-commerce 

In 2002 the TIMS XML E-commerce structure was submitted to ebXML Australia as an Australian 
e-Tender Standard 

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

C	EXPERIENCE WITH E-COMMERCE IMPLEMENTATIONS

The objectives of XZIG included developing a number of applications using XML to demonstrate how 
XML operated in an E-commerce environment.

OIC Members include Australian Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), Commonwealth Bank of
Australia (CBA) Sun Microsystems Australia, Halisa International Network, CSC Australia and 
Business Management Trust funded a number of E-commerce project developments

A number of application were developed using the standard XML E-commerce Name and Address 
template including:

1997
A	Electronic Association Information Management [EAIM]

1998
B	OIC Y2K Resource Asset Management Program [OICY2KAMP]

2000
C	Tender Information Management Service [TIMS]

2001
D	Electronic Questionnaire - developed for Federal Department Employment, Workplace 
	Relations Small Business

2002
E	Electronic Event Registration with XML interface

2003
F	Electronic Membership Application

2003
G	Electronic Subscriptions Registrations

D	INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ROYALTIES

One of the problems with Intellectual Property is that to take out a patent requires the person 
with the IP to detail the Intellectual Property as part of the patent.  

In addition the IP details often have to be detailed to obtain Government funding or investor 
funding. 

It is not unknown for Australian inventors to discover that US patents have been taken out on 
their inventions or vested interest to deter the success of certain inventions.  

An example is the Sarich revolutionary Orbital Engine which was developed in 1972 and 30 years 
later is still not a commercial 4-stoke motor engine.

Often product developers and software developers have spent considerable time in a particular 
community  developing and refining the IP.  

That IP has been able to thrive and develop due to the infrastructure of the Local Community 
that has provided basic resources such as water, power and sanitation.

There is an Argument following Adams premises of the Wealth of Nations that this IP should be 
considered as an Asset for the individual, the family and for the Local Community in that,
although it has not been bought or sold, work has been carried out to produce that IP.

Indeed the submissions made by the respondents made by the respondents to this FTA Inquiry 
contributions are the results of research and work carried out by Community minded people hence
this again could be considered an Asset.

This may be a role that Local Government can fulfil be providing an IP Trustee service for the 
local community whereby an encrypt file could be sent as a record to record when an invention
was devised.

This encrypted file can only be opened by the sender as and when appropriate if there is a 
dispute over copyright and IP.

At the OIC AGM 23 Jul 1996 the Members unanimously voted for Intellectual Property Royalties to 
be awarded to members that contribute to running and attending events.

In 1998 OIC members developed an IP Accreditation system which was implemented for attendees at 
the XML & E-commerce Seminars.

There are 7 types of Electronic Credits as part of the IP Accreditation: 

Type	Credit
A	Accommodation
E	Entertainment
F	Financial
H	Health
L	Learning
N	Nourishment
T	Travel

This type of e-Credits system may be worth considering for school children as a way to encourage
them to study

The Credits could be "spent" in travel and staying at places that are prepared to accept 
e-Credits.

Local Councils, Masonic lodges or schools could become credit repositories whereby travellers 
can nominate where a certain number of e-credits are held

E	DISPUTE  RESOLUTION

The process for Dispute Resolution looks like a legal nightmare for SMEs particularly with 
sections like 

A	Establishment of Panel
B	Rules of Procedure
C	Panel report - within 6 months 
D	"Inflation Adjustment Formula for Monetary Assessment"

The Dispute Resolution process is still locked into traditional legal dispute resolution 
processes

It is hard enough for SMEs to conduct business locally, let alone trying to conduct trade 
with the US where you have 4 different time zones in USA and 3 different time zones in Australia
not count daylight saving hours.

It can be done because the telecommunications infrastructure is in place but the operations 
infrastructure for e-Commerce has not been implemented yet.

In 1989 at the European Union EDI Conference in Brussels the French proposed that an Electronic
Notary could provide an independent record of when company A sent a trade document to company B.

Further more it was proposed that various Industry Associations and Peak Bodies could act as 
Electronic Notaries for their members to either record the time and date when e-documents are
sent or with certain key documents retain an encrypted copy of a document to verify the 
information that has been sent and more important received. 

We agree that it is far better for a local Business Panel to review the dispute although suggest that
theremuneration may by an e-Credits system similar to that developed by OIC members 

This type of Credits may be suitable for the Panels proposed in the chapter 21 for Dispute 
Resolution

F	SUBMISSIONS REVIEWED

As at 11 May 2004 there were 190 Submissions registered on the Senate Joint Standing Committee on Treaties 
website.

A number were reviewed to determine if Chapter 16 E-commerce was an issue and review the the concerns raised 
in the Submission.  If there is a problem downloading any of these submission please link
diect to the Senate Submissions web site.


39	Australian Information Industry Association - 			270 Kb - 10 pages

43	Australian Services Union -					284 Kb - 18 pages

50	Electronic Frontiers Australia - 				4.0 Mb - 18 pages

56	Interactive Entertainment Assc Aus (IEAA) - 			 34 Kb -  4 pages

66 	The Cabinet NSW - 						1.1 Mb -  8 pages

70	The Australian Institute - 					 88 Kb -  5 pages	

85 	Cybersource Pty Ltd - 						  7 Kb -   txt file

91	Victorian Government Submission - 				1.0 Mb - 18 pages

94 	Australian Industry Group - 					1.5 Mb - 13 pages

111 	Council of Textile and Fashion Ind Aus -			230 Kb -  2 pages

123 	Digital Distribution Global Training Services -			 72 Kb -  4 pages

126 	Business Software Association of Australia - 			 72 KB -  6 pages

127	Australian Censervation Foundation - 				1.8 Mb - 20 pages

132 	Business Council of Australia - 				706 Kb -  8 pages

133 	Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry -			608 Kb -  6 pages

142 	Australian Library & Information Association  - 		761 Kb - 10 pages 

143	Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries - 			720 Kb - 12 pages

156	Australiasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) - 			- 4 pages

183	Linux Australia - 						221 Kb -  8 pages

186 	Tuna Boat Owners Association of Australia - 			423 Kb -  3 pages

187	Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) - 			256 Kb - 14 pages

190	Federation Aus Scientific & Technological Societies (FASTS) 	200 Kb -  6 pages





























Revised: S: 21:32 Fri 30/04/2004 Syd 2089
F: 22:58 Fri 30/04/2004 Syd 2089
Who: gmb
Authorised: kmb
Created: 09:45 Tue 13/06/2000 Syd 2065
By: kmb
Revision: 3a4h1.002
Original Page: 3a4h
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