WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SCM/Q2/AUS/47 
19 April 2012 
 (12-2082) 
Committee on Subsidies 
and Countervailing Measures Original:   English 
 
 
SUBSIDIES 
 
Replies to Questions from JAPAN1 Regarding the  
New and Full Notification of AUSTRALIA2 
  
 The following communication, dated 18 April 2012, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Australia.    
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INDUSTRY COOPERATIVE INNOVATION PROGRAM 
 
Question 1 
 
 Please explain the eligibility criteria for this  program.  Please confirm that there are no 
local content requirements to participate in this program.  
Reply 
  The scheme closed on 30 June 2011.  The r esponse below is based on the criteria on which 
the scheme operated up to the closure date.  There are no local content requirements to participate in 
this program. 
  The Industry Cooperative Innovation Program (ICIP) offered two streams of funding 
assistance:  
 
 Stream A:  for small scale cooperative projects aimed at identifying the strategic planning of 
future innovation in an industry, such as project scoping or innovation mapping.  
 Stream B:  for more extensive cooperative projects aimed at progressing strategic innovation 
and achieving significant benefits for an indust ry, such as research and development (R&D), 
proof of concept, implementation activit ies and demonstration and adaptation. 
  The ICIP only supported cooperative industry pr ojects involving eligible activities.  Stream A 
and Stream B projects had distinct eligible activities.   The ICIP did not fund projects involving a mix 
of Stream A and Stream B eligible activities.    
 Stream A eligible activities included: 
 
                                                      
1 G/SCM/Q2/AUS/46.   
2 G/SCM/N/220/AUS.   G/SCM/Q2/AUS/47 
Page 2 
 
 
   Project scoping activities:  Activities aimed at effectively assessing the cost, skills, risks, 
outcomes, stakeholders, commercial opportunities,  feasibility and/or any other parameters of 
a potential Stream B project. 
 Innovation mapping activities:  The steps requi red to determine the collective capability, 
gaps, goals, and long term stra tegy for an industry in terms of innovation.  These activities 
might seek to develop a collective industry understanding in areas such as: 
 
o broad technological sophistication and future direction for that industry; 
o appropriate mechanisms for cooperation within the industry on innovation projects 
(including industry clusters);  or 
o emerging technologies. 
  Stream B eligible activities included: 
 
 Research and development activities:  The systematic, investigative and experimental 
activities that involve innovation that will enab le development of new products, processes and 
services in an industry context.   
 Proof of concept activities:  The steps necessary to establish the viability, including technical 
and commercial viability of a product, process or service, in an industry context.  
 Innovation demonstration and adaptation activities:   The steps necessary to demonstrate how 
new products, processes or services that have been  proven in one context can be implemented 
into a new Australian industry contex t for the benefit of that industry. 
 Innovation implementation activities:  The syst ematic work necessary for installing and 
establishing tools, processes, systems and servi ces to implement innovation in an industry. 
 
Question 2 
 
 Please provide a list of the projects which h ave been implemented with the subsidy. 
 
Reply 
 
In total there were 44 ICIP applicants offered funding.  
 
Round 1 -   Stream A Applic ations - grants offered 
Organisation Project Title 
Eco-Barramundi Pty Ltd Development of a closed water recirculation method for a pond based 
marine aquaculture. 
Geomatic Technologies Pty Ltd Portable location devise roadmap - LPOD Mulit-sensor Mobile 
Positioning Technology 
Global Innovation Centre Pty Ltd Defining the Australian Telematics Industry 
Global Innovation Centre Pty Ltd Square Kilometre Array (SKA) industry cluster mapping 
ITECplace Pty Ltd ITECplace B2B 
National Aquaculture Council Incr ease efficiency in aquaculture 
Peregrine Semiconductor Pty Ltd 
 Australian Microelectronic product realisation centre - Project scoping 
and innovation mapping. 
Sage Group Holdings Ltd Automating Asia-Pacific manufacturing for world markets 
The Reinvention Network Scoping of some practical applications of nanotechnology 
  G/SCM/Q2/AUS/47 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Round 1 -   Stream B Applic ations - grants offered 
Organisation Project Title 
Biosignal Pty Ltd Antimicrobial coatings and materials for Biomedical devices. 
EP Group Pty Ltd  Beyond 2 - Framing the Future (use of structural steel in building 
construction) 
m.Net Australian Mobile Content - Export Research Initiative 
MRI Pty Ltd PROMISE Project  
Unmanned Technologies Australia 
Pty Ltd Project AIRCOMS 
Typower Pty Ltd Energy Smart Gateway Project 
 
Round 2 -   Stream A Applic ations – grants offered 
Organisation Project Title 
Australian Council of Building 
Design Professions Ltd Performance enhancement roadmap for the built environment design 
consulting industry. 
Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturer's 
Association Management of all intellectual property issues within high-growth, 
high technology, globally focused electronics related companies. 
Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited LYNX Scoping Project 
Avocados Australia Ltd Enhancing global competitiveness in the avocado industry through 
supply chain innovation 
Cement, Concrete & Aggregates Australia Concrete Prefabricated Housing via Advances in Systems 
Technologies 
National Association of Steel-
Framed Housing Inc. Benchmarking study of core business in small steel-based custom 
manufacturing enterprises 
QMI Solutions Ltd Scoping study into a national process to foster innovation through 
diagnosed intervention 
Science Industry Australia Inc Roadmap of technologies and skills to maintain the science industry's 
future competitive advantage 
Tooling Australia Innovation mapping and project scoping for collaborative research for 
the advanced manufacturing industry 
 
Round 2 - Stream B Applications – grants offered  
Organisation Project Title 
Australian Barramundi Culture Pty 
Ltd Smart feeding systems for pond reared barramundi 
Australian Pipeline Industry 
Association Research directed into increasing safety, reliability and integrity of 
Australia's pipeline infrastructure 
Australian Pork Ltd Enhanced pig carcase grading system based on real time ultrasound 
Digital Radio Broadcasting Australia Development of digital radio. 
ITECplace Pty Ltd Development, demonstration and implementation of global innovation 
partnering 
OzTaste Pty Ltd New sorting technology to  ensure consistent quality stone fruit 
Welding Technology Institute of 
Australia Optimum Welded Plant in the Heavy Engineering and Infrastructure 
Industry 
ACYTE Biotech Pty Ltd A Rapid Monoclonal antibody production 
Virtual Cancer Centre.Com Pty Ltd B The Australian Medical Devices In dustry Online Resource Base 
 G/SCM/Q2/AUS/47 
Page 4 
 
 
  Round 3 - Stream B Applications - grants offered  
Organisation Project Title 
ACYTE Biotech Pty Ltd Production of monoclonal antibodies. 
Australian Manufacturing 
Technology Institute Limited 
(AMTIL) AMTIL - LYNX Project. 
Building Products Innovation  Buildings and Environment:  Full Life Cycle Assessment. 
Dayang Electronic Manufacturing Total Engineering and Manufacturing Working, TEAMwork. 
Healthlinks A new standard in cons umer medicine information access. 
ITS Australia Establishing an Australian TMC location table. 
One Steel Manufacturing Realising Community Benefits from Improved Building Regulations 
Measurement of Outdoor Visual 
Exposure (MOVE) Measurement tool for outdoor media. 
Water Services Association Expanding Market s for reuse water by innovative treatment. 
Wine Industry Tasmania Improving Australian Sparkling Wines and Pinot Noir. 
Welding Technology Institute of 
Australia (WTIA – Rail Bridges) Design, maintain and repair critical road and rail bridges. 
 
COMMERCIALISING EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES 
 
Question 1 
 
 Please explain the eligibility criteria for this .  Please confirm that  there are no local 
content requirements to participate in this program.  
Reply 
  The program closed to new applications  from 1 January 2010.  COMET services and 
assistance were superseded by the Commercialisa tion Australia program from 4 January 2010.  
Commercialisation Australia provides services for companies which may have previously sought 
assistance through the COMET  program.  Details of Commercialisation Australia are available at:  
http://www.commercialisationaustralia.gov.au . 
 
There were no local content requirements to pa rticipate in this program.  A project was 
eligible if it aimed to produce, establish the comme rcial viability of, or commercialise a new, clearly 
identified product, process or service.   
Examples of eligible projects were projects that aim to:  
 
• Complete development of a new product, process or service, or 
• Prove commercial viability of a new product, process or service to a customer or strategic 
partner.  
 Eligible Activities and Expenditure 
 
Skills and Knowledge  
 
Under the Skills and Knowledge component of Commercialisation Australia, funding is 
provided for obtaining expert advice and services to assist in the commercialisation process. 
 
 Examples of expert advice and services include (but are not limited to):   G/SCM/Q2/AUS/47 
 Page 5 
 
 
  • Business planning  
- developing or reviewing a business plan  
- determining suitable corporate structures  - undertaking a risk analysis  
 
• Commercialisation  
- undertaking market research  
- developing a market strategy  - developing an export strategy  
 
• Intellectual property management  
- commissioning an IP landscape report  
- developing an IP protection strategy  
- preparing a patent application (but fees to a patent office such as registration and 
maintenance fees are ineligible)  
- developing or reviewing IP licensing agreements  
 
• Capital raising 
- developing an investment proposal and pitch  
- developing a capital plan to identify funding requirements  
 
• Linkages  
- developing a partnership or collaboration agre ement with another business or organisation.  
 Experienced Executives  
The employment of an experienced chief ex ecutive officer or other executive is supported 
under the Experienced Executives component.  The executive is exp ected to bring complementary 
skills and experience that assist existing manage ment to drive the business towards a successful 
launch of its new product, process or service in the marketplace.  
 
Where the experienced executiv e to be employed by the applicant is not known at the time 
of application the applicant must select a person and seek the consent of the CEO of 
Commercialisation Australia within three months of notification that the application for an 
Experienced Executives grant was successful.  
 
Proof of Concept 
 
Funding for activities associated with the steps necessary to establish the commercial 
viability of a new product, process or service is provided under the Proof of Concept component.  
 
Projects should be geared toward proving the value proposition , or a critical component of 
the value proposition , that is described by the applicant in Part C of the Stage 2 Application Form 
under Merit Criterion 3.  Expenditure must be incu rred on eligible project activities, and after an 
application has been accepted, to be considered eligible expenditure .  However, grant funding is only 
guaranteed when a funding agreement is executed, and, therefore, the applicant bears the risk of any 
expenditure incurred before then.  
 
Early State Commercialisation 
 
Commercialisation Australia provides funding for the steps necessary to bring a new 
product, process or service to market under the Early Stage Commercialisation component.  
 G/SCM/Q2/AUS/47 
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  Only expenditure that is directly related to eligible project activities, and has been incurred 
on activities that occur after an application has been accepted, can be deemed to be eligible 
expenditure .  However, grant funding is only guaranteed when a funding agreement is executed, and, 
therefore, the applicant bears the risk of any expendi ture incurred before then.  
 
Question 2 
 
 Please explain in detail what is included in the definition of "innovative products, 
processes and services" and provide a list of the projects, processes and services which have 
been implemented with the subsidy.  
Reply 
 
There was no specified definition for "i nnovative products, processes and services".  
However, it was generally taken to mean that the product, process or service has a degree of newness 
or novelty. 
  There were hundreds of projects which were provided assistance to a variety of industry 
sectors.  The sectors that received the highest level of assistance during the notified period were in the 
manufacturing and professional, scientific and technical  services sectors.  In the 2009/2010 financial 
year, these two sectors received 64 per cent of COMET assistance approved.   
 
  
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