Trade Agreements: Australia

(asked on 23rd June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting the UNICTRAL Model Law 2017 for UK-Australia trade; and if she will make a statement.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 28th June 2022

In the UK Australia Free Trade Agreement both parties agreed to “…maintain a legal framework governing electronic transactions consistent with the principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce…” and to “...recognise the importance of developing mechanisms to facilitate the use of electronic transferable records.”

In the Queen’s Speech, the Government committed to implementing the recommendations made by the Law Commission for England and Wales by legislating to put electronic documents on the same legal footing as paper documents, thereby delivering the principles of the UN Commission On International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law.

Reform in this area is a G7 commitment made under DCMS Secretary of State’s Digital Track of the UK G7 Presidency and confirmed by the Carbis Bay G7 Leaders’ Summit Communique.

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