Australia and Chile finalise free trade deal negotiations
AFP - 2 hours 10 minutes ago
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia and Chile have sealed negotiations for a free trade agreement and the deal should be in place by 2009, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said Tuesday.
Crean said outstanding issues in the talks were settled Tuesday morning during a telephone conversation he had with Chilean counterpart Alejandro Foxley.
"This is a high-quality agreement that covers goods, services and investment," Crean said in a statement.
He said the agreement, which is due to be signed in late July, would eliminate tariffs on 97 percent of existing merchandise trade as soon as it came into force, rising to 100 percent by 2015.
He said it also included significant commitments on services and investment, aiming to provide certainly for investors in areas such as mining.
Crean said two-way trade between Australia and Chile was more than 850 million (816 million US) a year.
Australia already has free trade agreements with the United States, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore and is trying to negotiate deals with Japan, China, Malaysia and the Gulf states.
It is also studying the possibility of deals with India, South Korea and Indonesia.
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