scientific, technical and regulatory matters, aiming to improve non-food product safety and compliance;
emerging issues of significant health and safety relevance;
standardisation-related activities; and
exchange of officials.
The Union may provide Australia with selected information from its Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products with respect to consumer products as referred to in
Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council or its successor system, and Australia may provide the Union with selected information on the safety of consumer products and on preventive, restrictive and corrective measures taken with respect to consumer products.3 The information exchange may take the form of:
ad hoc exchanges, in duly justified cases, excluding personal data; or
systematic exchanges.
Building on the existing Administrative Arrangement for Information Sharing on Consumer Policy and Protection between the Government of Australia and the European Commission, done at Brussels on 21 March 2002, the Parties may establish appropriate arrangements between their relevant agencies to facilitate exchanges of information, including by electronic means.
Each Party shall use the information obtained pursuant to paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 for the sole purpose of the protection of consumers, health, safety or the environment.
Each Party shall treat the information obtained pursuant to paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 as confidential.
Any arrangements shall specify the type of information to be exchanged, the modalities for the exchange and the application of confidentiality and personal data protection rules pursuant to the laws and regulations of each Party.
3 For greater certainty, for the purposes of exchanges under paragraph 4, the term "consumer products" means goods intended for, or likely to be used for personal or domestic use, excluding food, medical devices and medicinal products.
Technical discussions and consultations
A Party may request a discussion on any draft or proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure of the other Party, which the Party considers may significantly adversely affect trade between the Parties. The request shall be made in writing and identify:
the draft or proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure at issue;
the provisions of this Chapter to which the concerns relate; and
the requesting Party's concerns regarding the relevant draft or proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure.
The requesting Party shall send its request to the contact point of the other Party.
At the further request of either Party, the Parties shall meet within 60 days after the date of the request to discuss the concerns raised in the request in person or by video or teleconference, and shall endeavour to resolve the matter as expeditiously as possible. If the requesting Party believes that the matter is urgent, it may request that any meeting take place within a shorter time frame. In such cases, the responding Party shall give positive consideration to such a request.
A Party may request consultations with the other Party regarding any matter arising under this Chapter by delivering a written request to the contact point for this Chapter of the other Party. The Parties shall make every attempt to arrive at a mutually satisfactory resolution of the matter and
may refer it to the Committee on Trade in Goods and Technical Barriers to Trade as appropriate for that purpose.
For greater certainty, this Article is without prejudice to a Party's rights and obligations under Chapter 23 (Dispute settlement).
Contact points
Within 90 days after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, each Party shall:
designate a contact point responsible for facilitating communication between the Parties on matters covered by this Chapter; and
promptly notify the other Party of the contact details of its contact point.
Each Party shall promptly notify the other Party of any changes to the contact details of its contact point.
The functions of the contact points shall be:
coordinating engagement with the work of the Committee on Trade in Goods and Technical Barriers to Trade;
facilitating the implementation of this Chapter, including in relation to relevant decisions of the Committee on Trade in Goods and Technical Barriers to Trade; and
answering all reasonable enquiries from the other Party regarding technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures and, as appropriate, providing the other Party with other relevant information.
The contact points shall communicate with each other by any agreed method that is appropriate for the efficient and effective discharge of their functions.
Committee on Trade in Goods and Technical Barriers to Trade
In addition to the functions specified in Article 21.6 (Functions of the specialised committees), the Committee on Trade in Goods and Technical Barriers to Trade shall:
enhance cooperation on technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures; and
undertake consultations on issues related to technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures, including, if the Parties so decide, by establishing ad hoc working groups.
If a Party declines a request from the other Party to consult on an issue relevant to this Chapter, it shall, on request of the other Party, explain the reasons for its decision.
DISCLAIMER: The Commission and Australia are publishing the texts of the Agreement following the announcement of conclusion of the negotiations on 24 March 2026. The texts are published in view of the public interest in the Agreement, for information purposes only and they may undergo further minor modifications, including as a result of the process of legal and linguistic revision. These texts are without prejudice to the final outcome of the Agreement between the EU and Australia. The texts will be final upon signature. The Agreement will become binding on the Parties under international law only after completion by each Party of its applicable legal requirements and procedures necessary for the entry into force of the Agreement.
Chapter 9. SERVICES AND INVESTMENT
Section A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.1. SCOPE
1. This Title shall apply to measures of a Party affecting trade in services, the establishment or operation to perform economic activities by investors, covered enterprises, and for performance requirements “any enterprise”, or the temporary entry of a natural person for business purposes.
2. This Title shall not apply to:
(a) air services or related services in support of air services (1), other than:
(i) aircraft repair and maintenance services when undertaken on an aircraft while it is withdrawn from service;
(ii) the following services provided using a manned aircraft: aerial fire-fighting, flight training, spraying, surveying, mapping, photography, and other airborne agricultural, industrial and inspection services (2)
(iii) computer reservation system services;
(iv) ground handling services; and
(v) the selling and marketing of air transport services.
(b) audio-visual services;
(c) national maritime cabotage (3);
(d) government procurement; and
(e) activities performed in the exercise of governmental authority.
3. In the context of a review of this Agreement, [conducted in accordance with Article X (Review) of Chapter X (Final Provisions)], the Parties may assess whether it is in their mutual interest to add other air transport services to the list in paragraph 2(a) in order to include them within the scope of the agreement.
4. This Title, except for Article 3.X (Performance Requirements), shall not apply to subsidies or grants provided by a Party, including government-supported loans, guarantees, and insurance.
Article 1.2. DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Title:
(a) "activities performed in the exercise of governmental authority" means activities which are performed, including services which are supplied, neither on a commercial basis nor in competition with one or more economic operators;
(b) "aircraft repair and maintenance services" means such activities when undertaken on an aircraft or a part thereof while it is withdrawn from service and does not include so-called line maintenance;
(c) "computer reservation system services" means services provided by computerised systems that contain information about air carriers' schedules, availability, fares and fare rules, through which reservations can be made or tickets may be issued;
(d) "covered enterprise" means an enterprise in the territory of a Party established in accordance with subparagraph (h), directly or indirectly, by an investor of the other Party, in accordance with the applicable law, existing on the date of entry into force of this Agreement or established thereafter;
(e) "cross-border trade in services" means the supply of a service:
(i) from the territory of a Party into the territory of the other Party; or
(ii) in the territory of a Party to the service consumer of the other Party;
but does not include the supply of a service in the territory of a Party by an investor of the other Party or a covered enterprise;
(f) "economic activity" means any activity of an industrial, commercial or professional character or activities of craftsmen, including the supply of services;
(g) "enterprise" means a juridical person or a branch or a representative office of a juridical person;
(h) "establishment" means the setting up of or the capital participation in a juridical person, or the creation of a branch or representative office, in the territory of a Party, with a view to creating or maintaining lasting economic links;
(i) "existing" means in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement;
(j) "ground handling services" means the supply at an airport, on a fee or contract basis, of the following services: airline representation, administration and supervision; passenger handling; baggage handling; ramp services; catering except the preparation of food; air cargo and mail handling; fuelling of an aircraft; aircraft servicing and cleaning; surface transport; and flight operations, crew administration and flight planning. Ground handling services do not include: self-handling; security; aircraft repair and maintenance; or management or operation of essential centralised airport infrastructure, such as de-icing facilities, fuel distribution systems, baggage handling systems and fixed intra airport transport systems;
(k) "investor of a Party" means a natural or juridical person of a Party that seeks to establish, is establishing or has established an enterprise in accordance with subparagraph (h), in the territory of the other Party;
(l) “juridical person” means any legal entity duly constituted or otherwise organised under the applicable law, whether for profit or otherwise, and whether privately-owned or governmentally-owned, including any corporation, trust, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship or association;
(m) "juridical person of a Party" means:
(i) for the European Union: a juridical person constituted or organised under the law of the European Union or of at least one of its Member States and engaged in substantive business operations (4) in the territory of the European Union; and
(ii) for Australia: a juridical person constituted or organised under the law of Australia and engaged in substantive business operations in the territory of Australia.
(n) "natural person of a Party" means:
(i) for the European Union, a national of one of the Member States of the European Union according to its law (5); and
(ii) for Australia, an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia under the law of Australia
(o) "operation" means the conduct, management, maintenance, use, enjoyment, or sale or other form of disposal of an enterprise;
(p) "selling and marketing of air transport services" means opportunities for the air carrier concerned to sell and market freely its air transport services including all aspects of marketing such as market research, advertising and distribution, but not including the pricing of air transport services nor the applicable conditions;
(q) "service supplier" means any natural or juridical person that seeks to supply or supplies a service;
(r) "service supplier of a Party" means a natural or juridical person of a Party that seeks to supply or supplies a service;
(s) "service consumer of a Party" means a natural or juridical person of a Party that receives or uses a service;
Article 1.3. DENIAL OF BENEFITS
A Party may deny the benefits of this Title to an investor or service supplier of the other Party, or to a covered enterprise if:
(a) the denying Party adopts or maintains measures (6) related to the maintenance of international peace and security, including the protection of human rights (7), which:
(i) prohibit transactions with that investor, service supplier or covered enterprise, or
(ii) would be violated or circumvented if the benefits of this Chapter were accorded to that investor, service supplier or covered enterprise, including where the measures prohibit transactions with a natural or juridical person who owns or controls any of them.
Section B. INVESTMENT LIBERALISATION
Article 9.4. SCOPE
1. This Chapter shall apply to measures of a Party affecting establishment or operation to perform economic activities by:
(a) investors of the other Party;
(b) covered enterprises; and
(c) for the purposes of Article 2.6 [Performance requirements], any enterprise in the territory of that Party.
Article 9.5. MARKET ACCESS
1. A Party shall not adopt or maintain, with regard to establishment of an enterprise by an investor of the other Party or a covered enterprise, or operation of a covered enterprise, either on the basis of its entire territory or on the basis of the territory of a national, territorial, regional or local level of government, measures that:
(a) impose limitations on:
(i) the number of enterprises that may carry out an economic activity, whether in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive suppliers or the requirements of an economic needs test;
(ii) the total value of transactions or assets in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(iii) the total number of operations or on the total quantity of output expressed in terms of designated numerical units in the form of quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(iv) the participation of foreign capital in terms of maximum percentage limit on foreign shareholding or the total value of individual or aggregate foreign investment; or
(v) the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular sector or that an enterprise may employ and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the performance of an economic activity, in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test; or
(b) restrict or require specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which an investor of the other Party may perform an economic activity.
Article 9.6. NATIONAL TREATMENT
1. Each Party shall accord to investors of the other Party and to covered enterprises treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like situations, to its own investors and to their enterprises, with respect to establishment in its territory.
2. Each Party shall accord to investors of the other Party and to covered enterprises treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like situations, to its own investors and to their enterprises, with respect to operation in its territory.
3. The treatment accorded by a Party under paragraphs 1 and 2 means:
(a) with respect to a regional or local level of government of Australia, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded, in like situations, by that regional or local level of government to investors of Australia and to their enterprises in its territory.
(b) with respect to a government of, or in, a Member State of the European Union, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded, in like situations, by that government to investors of that Member State and to their enterprises in its territory.
Article 9.7. MOST FAVOURED NATION TREATMENT
1. Each Party shall accord to investors of the other Party and to covered enterprises treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like situations, to investors of a third country and to their enterprises, with respect to establishment and operation in its territory.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not be construed as obliging a Party to extend to investors of the other Party or to covered enterprises the benefit of any treatment resulting from measures providing for recognition, including of the standards or criteria for the authorisation, licencing, or certification of a natural person or enterprise to carry out an economic activity, or of prudential measures as referred to in paragraph 3 of the GATS Annex on Financial Services or Article 5.XX (Financial Services – Recognition).
3. For greater certainty, the “treatment” referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 does not include international dispute resolution procedures or mechanisms, including investor-State dispute settlement, provided for in other international agreements.
4. Substantive obligations in other international agreements concluded by a Party with a third country do not in themselves constitute treatment under this Article. Measures of a Party in relation to those obligations can constitute treatment (1) and thus can give rise to a breach of this Article. (2)
Article 9.8. SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND BOARDS OF DIRECTORS
A Party shall not require a covered enterprise to appoint natural persons of any particular nationality as senior managers or members of boards of directors.
Article 9.9. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS
1. A Party shall not impose or enforce any requirement, or enforce any commitment or undertaking, in connection with the establishment or operation of any enterprise in its territory (3):
(a) to export a given level or percentage of goods or services;
(b) to achieve a given level or percentage of domestic content;
(c) to purchase, use or accord a preference to goods produced in its territory, or to purchase goods from natural or juridical persons or any other entities in its territory;
(d) to relate in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows associated with such enterprise;
(e) to restrict sales of goods or services in its territory that such enterprise produces or supplies, by relating those sales in any way to the volume or value of its exports or foreign exchange earnings;
(f) to transfer a particular technology, a production process or other proprietary knowledge to a natural or juridical person or any other entity in its territory;
(g) to supply exclusively from the territory of that Party a good produced or a service supplied by the enterprise to a specific regional or world market;
(h) to locate the headquarters for a specific region or the world market in its territory;
(i) to achieve a given level or value of research and development in its territory;
(j) to adopt:
(i) a rate or amount of royalty below a certain level; or
(ii) a given duration of the term of a licence contract (4)
with regard to any licence contract in existence at the time the requirement is imposed or enforced, or any commitment or undertaking is enforced, or with regard to any future licence contract freely entered into between the enterprise and a natural or juridical person or any other entity in its territory, if the requirement is imposed or enforced or the commitment or undertaking is enforced, in a manner that constitutes a direct interference with that licence contract by an exercise of non-judicial governmental authority of a Party. (5)
2. A Party shall not condition the receipt, or continued receipt of an advantage, in connection with the establishment or operation of an enterprise in its territory, on compliance with any of the following requirements:
(a) to achieve a given level or percentage of domestic content;
(b) [to purchase, use or accord a preference to goods produced in its territory, or to purchase goods from natural or juridical persons or any other entity in its territory;]
(c) to relate in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows associated with such enterprise;
(d) to restrict sales of goods or services in its territory that such enterprise produces or supplies by relating those sales in any way to the volume or value of its exports or foreign exchange inflows; or