Transparency of Air Services Agreements Australia Richard Wood, Department of Transport and Regional Services

 to improve transparency and reporting of air services arrangements across the APEC region  to propose the review of existing measures and reporting of new initiatives for better information sharing Purpose TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

 Clear and accurate information may facilitate continued growth in aviation  Transparency is a recognised principle amongst APEC economies - Osaka Action Agenda - Statement to Implement APEC Transparency Standards  Without active information sharing, Members may continue to operate under outdated assumptions Background TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

 Information for stakeholders (e.g. airlines, airports)  Knowledge for the public  Measure of liberalisation success for governments  Accountability Benefits of Transparency TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

 AIRLINES - Informs airlines on markets to pursue - Allows accurate advice to governments on priorities - Improves management of current fleet and future investment - Educates emerging carriers inexperience with Air Services Agreements  TRADE AND INDUSTRY - Informs businesses of the ease of movement for - Business travel - Trade - Tourism Benefits of Transparency TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

 REGIONAL ADVANTAGE - May assist the region in negotiations with non-APEC economies  MEASURING LIBERALISATION - Enables Government and industry to measure the extent of liberalisation across the sector with greater accuracy Benefits of Transparency TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

 Domestic measures - Website publication: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India  Global measures - ICAO Database for Aeronautical Agreements and Arrangements (DAGMAR) - ICAO World Air Services Agreement (WASA) Database United Nations Treaty Collection Database Current Transparency Arrangements TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

 The current mechanisms for information distribution are not complicated  They provide central and accessible reference points for stakeholders to ascertain timely and detailed information about the sector Current Transparency Arrangements TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

 There are many things we as Member economies can do to promote and facilitate transparency in air services  Domestic publication: summary table  Update of data inputs to WTO Quantitative Air Services Agreements Review  Registration with ICAO: delegation of responsibility Proposal TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

Next meeting - report on current approaches to disseminating information about air services - report any new initiatives or measures that could be undertaken to improve transparency across their air services arrangements or in the sector globally Recommendations TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007

Next meeting - agree to develop principles on transparency in air services agreements, to be reported to APEC Leaders, consistent with principle 8 of the Leaders’ Statement to Implement APEC Transparency Standards Recommendations TPT-WG29, Chinese Taipei 29 th APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting, Chinese Taipei, 9-13 July 2007