Australia-United States Treaty on Defense Trade Cooperation

Introduction

On 5 September 2007 the Australia Government signed the Treaty between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United States of America concerning Defense Trade Cooperation (the Treaty) with the United States Government. The Treaty creates a framework for trade in eligible defence articles between approved entities in Australia and the United States, known as the Approved Community, without the need for apply for export licences.

Implementation and Commencement of the Treaty

The Treaty is being implemented in Australia through the Defence Trade Controls Bill 2011. For information on the progress of the Bill, please refer to the Legislation section. After the required legislative measures are implemented in both Australia and the United States, there will be an exchange of notes that nominates the date on which the Treaty will come into effect.

Benefits under the Treaty framework

It is anticipated that the Treaty will significantly reduce the administrative delays associated with the existing export control systems, providing reduced delivery times for new defence projects and improved business opportunities for Australian companies to participate in US contracts that are eligible under the Treaty.

Scope of the Treaty

The scope of the Treaty is determined by three elements:

  1. The trade must be between members of the Approved Community. The Approved Community includes private companies and any other non-government entities that have applied for and been approved as members of the Approved Community and Government agencies.
  2. The trade must be in support of eligible projects and programs. The eligible projects and programs are contained in four lists:
    • Combined Operations and Exercises List
    • Cooperative Programs List
    • Australian Government End Use List
    • United States Government End Use List
  3. The articles being traded must be in Part 1 of the Defence Trade Cooperation Munitions List (DTCML). Part 2 of the DTCML lists the articles that are not eligible for trade under the Treaty. Part 2 is based on the Exempted Technology List currently available from the US Department of State. The DTCML is currently being drafted as an instrument to the Bill.

Further Information

DECO will update this website on Treaty specific information, such as the application process and compliance requirements.

Please check back regularly to view the developments or refer to the Training and Education page for information on upcoming information sessions.

You can also call DECO on 1800 661066 and select option 2 to speak with the Treaty Implementation team.