WHEREAS the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which was signed on 24 February 1976 in Bali, Indonesia, was amended by the First and Second Protocols Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which were signed on 15 December 1987 and 25 July 1998, respectively;

WHEREAS Article 18, Paragraph 3, of the aforesaid Treaty as amended by Article 1 of the aforesaid Second Protocol provides that States outside Southeast Asia may also accede to the Treaty with the consent of all the States in Southeast Asia, namely Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam;

HAVING considered the aforesaid Treaty as amended by the Protocols;

The Government of Australia hereby declares its intent to accede to the Treaty upon completion of its necessary domestic procedures.

SIGNED in Vientiane, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, on the Twenty-Eighth Day of July in the Year Two Thousand and Five.

ALEXANDER DOWNER
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Australia