Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement negotiations
Submission overview
The Australian Alliance for Animals thanks the Department for the opportunity to provide a submission to the Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations.
Animal welfare is an increasingly important component of sustainable development across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. International trade agreements significantly shape Australian policy and practice on various matters, including animal welfare standards. It is essential that such agreements protect and promote practices consistent with Australian values and do not undermine local standards of production that align with Australian animal welfare regulatory requirements.
Our submission highlights the significant opportunity the Australia-India CECA negotiations present for the Australian Government to demonstrate its commitment to high animal welfare standards and sustainable development practices.
We recommend that similar recognition and commitment to cooperation be incorporated into the Australia-India CECA, which would demonstrate Australia's commitment to positively influencing global animal welfare standards and provide a forum for bilateral discussions to promote continuous improvement.
This submission is made on behalf of our six core member organisations – Animals Australia, Compassion in World Farming, Humane World for Animals Australia, World Animal Protection Australia, FOUR PAWS Australia, and Voiceless, the animal protection institute – representing over 2 million Australians collectively.
Read our submission
In this submission, the Alliance for Animals advocates for animal welfare provisions, building on recent trade agreement precedents and promoting bilateral cooperation to enhance animal welfare standards in international trade.