Agrifood Governance and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement

Abstract

Australia and China have a close and intensifying relationship around agriculture and agricultural products. This includes supplier/buyer chains, production improvement relationships (e.g. ag. technology and genetic materials), direct investment, and transboundary production and other systems). There are rapid changes occurring in all of this, and pressures like climate change, increasing wealth, new technologies etc etc will intensify this further. There are many policies and strategies being implemented. Both countries also have policy and strategy commitments to sustainability, social justice and the like, as well as to trade and food security. Among these are the FTAs and their dispute resolution, various conventions, and climate change commitments. All of these elements represent a set of implied goals and ambitions about food, sustainability, economic growth, social justice and the like. However, they are not coordinated and integrated, and the end result is not coherent. What is needed is a serious effort to create a framework of laws, institutions, coordination mechanisms etc that can minimize the confusion, overlaps and other impediments to the achievement of these goals.