Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement signed, text released

On Wednesday, 9 July, Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, signed the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA).

Following domestic approval processes in Australia and Japan, the JAEPA will come into force and 99.7% of Australia’s exports of resource, energy and manufacturing products will benefit from duty-free enter into Japan. All of Australia’s current resources, energy and manufactured goods exports with benefit from duty-free entry into Japan on full implementation of the JAEPA.

The JAEPA does not include investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions, offering cross-border investors protection against political risks such as expropriation of investment assets or profits and discrimination between cross-border investors and national investors.

The original article was prepared by Leon Chung, Partner, and Kate Lindeman, Solicitor, Sydney, and can be read here.