[Osia-members] [Fwd: Public consultations in Canberra - Trade in Services Agreement negotiations [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]]

Don Christie don at catalyst.net.nz
Wed May 22 06:38:10 EST 2013


Hi

This services trade agreement may be of interest to members. Some trade
agreements include a clause that would prevent governments stipulating
that they prefer to use open source software.

In New Zealand this has led to a procurement rule that states prevents
government agencies stipulating a preference for a particular licence.

Note that many countries, including Australia and the UK, have given
very strong indications that they would like to see more uptake of FLOSS
in government. The UK Cabinet Office has said it will no longer fund
projects that *don't* use FLOSS. As an aside, there are also serious
implications for cloud computing where licensing is a critical issue.

Australia needs to be able to be allowed to set its own rules in this
area.

Cheers
Don

-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Services Negotiations <Services.Negotiations at dfat.gov.au>
To: Services Negotiations <Services.Negotiations at dfat.gov.au>
Subject: Public consultations in Canberra - Trade in Services Agreement
negotiations [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 08:48:13 +0000


 
Public consultations in Canberra – Trade in Services Agreement
 
 
Dear Stakeholders,
 
As many of you are aware, Australia has been leading, with the United
States, negotiations in Geneva on a plurilateral Trade in Services
Agreement (TISA).  Our objective is to negotiate a high-quality and
comprehensive agreement, which is compatible with the WTO General
Agreement on Trade in Services, will attract broad participation, and
will support and feed back into multilateral trade negotiations.
 
Paraguay is the latest WTO Member to join the negotiations, having
joined in March 2013.  Parties now include 22 World Trade Organization
(WTO) Members – Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, European
Union (comprising 27 countries), Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan,
Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Republic
of Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States – which
collectively account for 70 per cent of the global economy and around
two-thirds of global trade in services.
 
As part of the Australian Government’s ongoing public consultation
process, we will be holding 
                    public consultations in Canberra
                     on Monday 17 June, 3.00–4.30pm
            at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
             (RG Casey Building, John McEwen Cres, Barton).
 
If you are interested in attending, please respond by email to
Services.Negotiations at dfat.gov.au, including your name, position,
organisation and preferred contact details.  Public consultations will
also be organised in other capital cities.  We will provide further
information on our website and through email updates.
 
Thank you to all who have made submissions on the TISA.  All submissions
received have been made publicly available on our website (unless
otherwise requested).  We continue to welcome submissions on the costs
and benefits of the TISA to inform Australia’s priorities and objectives
in the negotiations.  Submissions may be lodged electronically to
Services.Negotiations at dfat.gov.au.  For more information, including
details on other ways to make a submission, please visit our website. 
 
 
Services Trade and Negotiations Section 
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
R.G. Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
BARTON   ACT   0221
AUSTRALIA
Email: services.negotiations at dfat.gov.au 
 
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If you would like to be removed from the mailing list, or if you have
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mailing list, please contact us at services.negotiations at dfat.gov.au.
 
 
 




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