Australia and Japan need a new bilateral agreement to develop trade and business opportunities, a study released Sunday said.
But Professor Gordon de Brouwer and Tony Warren, authors of "Strengthening Australia-Japan Economic Relations", stop short of recommending a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
A full FTA would simply not get off the ground in Japan where some agriculture, an important element for Australia in any trade deal, is fiercely protected, the study argues.
"Typically, an FTA is concerned with reducing tariffs and formal barriers to entry," the authors say in the study undertaken for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
"Clearly, tariffs and barriers to entry in some sectors do exist in Japan, but they cannot be addressed within the framework of a traditional FTA because Japan is not yet prepared to include liberalisation of trade in agriculture, notably rice, in any agreement."
The study calls on both countries to harmonise commercial systems.
The study was the result of extensive consultations with several hundred representatives of business, government and other groups in Australia and Japan.
It found unexploited commercial potential and identified 10 issues of concern including: movement of people (visas for spouses to move to Japan); Australian companies' inadequate intellectual property protection; a lack of common standards in some industries; Japanese government red tape; and anti-competitive protection.
One of the major issues was the outdated perception businesses in the two countries had of each other.
"On the Japan side, Australia is not seen as an obvious source for many of the newer goods and services it requires," the authors said – SYDNEY (AFP)
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