11:27 Sun 04 Jul 2004 REF: 611ACEC1 Y/R: Aus-USA Free Trade Agreement TO: The Hon John HOWARD MP cc Senate FTA Inquiry Prime Minister Minister Trade AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT Minister Foreign Affairs Minister Health Senator LUNDY Dear Prime Minister Philip ARGY NEED FOR EXPERT ADVICE ON CHAPTERS 15 & 16 Further to my e-mail Thu 24 Jun 2004 (Att A) I write to you at the request of Philip ARGY Chairman e-Commerce Committee, Business Law Section, Law Council of Australia (Att B - e-mail Fri 02 Jul 2004). This is to confirm that, like the submission from the Management Committee of the OIC XML & E-commerce Special Interest Group [XZIG] to the Senate Inquiry into the AusFTA, Mr ARGY does not oppose the FTA This is also to confirm that Mr ARGY's name was put forward under Parliamentary Privilege of Giving Evidence without any discussions with him. His name was put forward as someone who would be able to assist the Senate Inquiry in a number of issues involving the FTA particularly Chapter 15: Government Procurement and Chapter 16: Electronic Commerce. As there were no other submissions to the Senate Inquiry on Chapter 15 and Chapter 16 the areas where Mr ARGY may be able to assist included: 1 to understand the implications to Australian Business of competing e-commerce standards namely ISO EDIFACT, ANSI X-12 and US Health H7. 2 what would involved for Federal and State legislation to implement Chapter 15, Chapter 16 and Chapter 17 3 what would be involved with harmonising the World Intellectual Property Organisation [WIPO] directions on Intellectual Property with Chapter 15, Chapter 16 and Chapter 17. The request from Mr ARGY appears to originate from an e-mail that I sent to you and other respondents to the FTA on Thu 24 Jun 2004 (A). The e-mail on the 24 Jun 2004 was drafted because the Aus-USA FTA bill was listed for its 2nd reading and vote for Thu 24 Jun 2004. This meant that the Senate Inquiry into the Free Trade Agreement would not have completed its report by then and it would be a total waste of the time and money expended by the 541 Respondents to the Senate FTA Inquiry. BACKGROUND TO E-MAIL 24 JUN 2004 On 08 Jun 2004 I had been called before the Senate Inquiry to give Witness Evidence as the Chair of the Management Committee of the OIC XML & E-commerce Special Interest Group [XZIG]. The Evidence was to support a submission to the Senate Inquiry for a standard e-Tender System developed and implemented by members of the XZIG to enable the Australian Government to comply with Chapter 8: Removing barriers for trade, Chapter 15: Government Procurement and Chapter 16: Electronic Commerce. Apparently out of the 541 submission there was only one that referred to Chapter 16: Electronic Commerce and that was from the Management Committee of the OIC XML & E-commerce Special Interest Group. Hence this is why the Senate Inquiry had called me to give Evidence. The Submission outlined how a standard e-tender format that complied with ISO EDIFACT specifications would enable Australian Small and Medium size businesses to tender electronically for Australian, European and USA business using the same tender format and process. However the day before the Senate Hearing I discovered that Ambassador ZOELLICK had given a speech on 25 May 2004 to the Electronic Industry Alliance [EIA] which comprised the majority of the US IT Industry. As part of the EIA web page it states that EIA endorses and promotes ANSI Standards. This triggered alarm bells in my memory. In 1988 I was involved as the representative of the Australian Small Business Association (ASBA) on of the Standards Australia IS/11 EDI Standards Committee. There was a major conflict with Standards Australia when the 3 members of the Australian Banking Association put forward a motion that Standards Australia issues ANSI-X12 as an interim standard for 2 years (C). When I pointed out that Standards Australia had a duty to support ISO Standards and the EDIFACT ISO Standard 9375 had been released in April 1987 I was over-ruled. Standards Australia wrote to the Australian Small Business Association asking for me to be replaced. In Oct 1988 I had to attend a full ASBA committee meeting to explain what had happened. On 10 Oct 1988 ASBA wrote back stating I was the nominated representative of ASBA (D) In Dec 1988 Standards Australia issued a letter stating ANSI-X12 is an interim Australian Standard for 2 years (E) The following meeting I was forcibly evicted from the IS/11 Standard meeting by Standards Australia. The Police Sargent said "Standards Australia said I was trespassing". So when I was preparing for the Senate Inquiry Witness Evidence Examination and while reviewing Chapter 15 Government procurement, I saw that the 6 members members of EIA included the US Government Electronic and Information Technology Association. I felt it very important to draw to the attention of the Senate FTA Inquiry the potential conflict of the ANSI-X12 and EDIFACT E-commerce Standards. As the Senate Inquiry committee has not received any other Submissions that relate to Chapter 15: Government Procurement or Chapter 16: Electronic Commerce I proposed that it would be very worthwhile to obtain further advice from someone who understand the issues. As my subsequent nomination to the Senate Inquiry explains, Philip ARGY is without doubt one of the most qualified people in Australia to explain not only the technical issues involved with the conflict of e-Commerce Standards but also the legal harmonisation issues which will be so critical for effective Dispute Resolution. NEXT STEPS Mr Prime Minister, given the experiences and concerns about the past history of duplicate standards within Australia (eg different railway gauges for each State), I believe that it would be very helpful for the Senate FTA Inquiry committee to receive evidence from Philip ARGY. He is probably in a unique position within Australia to provide an insight not only to the expense and problems with conflicting e-Commerce Standards,but also the best strategy for legal harmonisation with the direction of Intellectual Property legislation within the World Information Property Organisation [WIPO]. He may also support the proposal for an e-commerce Governance Committee to ensure that Australia's trading partners comply with ISO EDIFACT Standards in Government and Commercial Procurement. Yours faithfully Stephen GOULD Chair eCommerce Standards Committee HALISA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK E: sggould@halisa.net Att History Australian Ecommerce Standards 1988 a 29 Nov 1988 - Letter from National Community Network stating EDIFACT is standard used by Australian National Community Network b 21 Nov 1988 - Letter from Chairman IS/11 - EDI Standards stating ANSI-X12 would be the Australian Standard c 10 Oct 1988 - Letter ASBA to Standards Australia confirms Stephen GOULD as Aus Small Business Association Representatative in EDI Issues d 01 Sep 1988 - Preface from Standards Australia This preface is taken virtually verbatim from letter sent by Glen DAVIS Westpac to Toni GOUS CEO IS11 Committee Standards Australia on 05 Aug 1988 e 05 Aug 1988 - Ltr Aus Bankers Assoc to SAA IS/11 This letter to Toni GOUS CEO IS11 SAA has no document title or person's position only from Glen DAVIS f 05 Jul 1988 - Fax from Arthur Andersen with prologue for SAA This Prologue and Preface states ANSI-X12 as 2 yr Interim Standard. This fax states: 1 This Standard was prepared by the Association's Committee on Electronic Data Interchange 2 The SAA is a member of the EDI Council of Australia [EDICA] 3 Any references to the "American National Standards" should be replaced by reference to "Australian Standards" g 16 Jun 1988 - Letter from Westpac to Aus Banking Assoc This letter from Glen DAVIS Westpac and Jonathon KNIGHT HongKong Australia Bank to Mr C DOYLE General Secretary Australian Bankers Association This letter states: 1 There are 3 sub-committees for IS11 EDI Standards Committee 2 IS11/2 Glen DAVIS will chair Sub-Committee - EDIFACT Standards 3 IS11/3 Jonathon KNIGHT will chair Sub-Committee - Interim Australian ANSI-X12 Standard 4 IS11/12 This will deal with the interim Australian ANSI-X12 Standards work carried out by the EDI Council of Australia [EDICA]. The CEO of EDICA is Michael BAKER who also happens to to be the Chair of the full IS11 Committee