The agreements are comprehensive and of high quality and include trade in goods, trade in services, investment, government procurement, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement mechanism and other related areas. They will provide Hong Kong traders and investors with legal certainty and more favourable access to the Australian market, while creating more business opportunities and improving trade and investment flows between Hong Kong and Australia. 2 Technical barriers to trade include technical rules, standards and conformity assessment procedures which may directly or indirectly affect trade in goods. The volume of trade between Hong Kong and the EU makes cooperation between its customs authorities very important to facilitate legitimate trade flows and safeguard supply chain security. On 13 May 1999, the then European Community and Hong Kong, China, signed an Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters (CCMAA). The text of the Agreement is available in Official Journal L 151/21 of 18 June 1999. The Joint Customs Cooperation Committee (CCCCC), which has met every two years since 2002, oversees the implementation of the CCMAA. Customs representatives and experts from the EU and Hong Kong are discussing practical ways of cooperation to best implement the agreement. The CCMAA, which entered into force on 1 June 1999, was the territory`s first binding customs cooperation agreement after its cession to the People`s Republic of China in 1997.What the CCMAA covers Hong Kong signed in 2011 a comprehensive free trade agreement with the four members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). on issues such as trade facilitation and the enforcement of intellectual property rights.