Australia China Business Council urges support for Covid-19 vaccine passport
The Australia China Business Council is urging the government to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine passport using blockchain technology.
The Australia China Business Council is urging the federal government to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine passport using blockchain technology to help open up regional travel.
The council says Australia should take the initiative in developing a blockchain-based COVID-19 vaccine travel document working with other countries in the region, including China.
In an interview with The Australian, ACBC national president David Olsson said there needed to be a co-ordinated response by the government in developing a COVID-19 vaccine passport covering issues of data collection, privacy and the technology of verification.
“There is an urgent economic need to find a way to replace the current compulsory quarantine measures and travel bans so we can reopen our borders to tourists, students and business travel,” Mr Olsson said.
“We should take a lead in our region in crafting a solution.”
Mr Olsson said there were several different models of COVID-19 vaccine passports being developed around the world, including one by the International Air Transport Association and another by CommonPass, an organisation linked with the World Economic Forum.
He said “no one solution will work for everyone”, but it was important that the Australian solution was able to take into account vaccinations being developed in China that were also being used in other countries in the region.
“We see an opportunity for the Australian government to work with China and other nations in our region to develop the recommended standards for security, authentication, privacy and data exchange,” he said.
“It should also provide guidance and technical support to countries in our region so we have a solution which works well with our most important trading partners.”
Mr Olsson said Australia should also be working with the World Health Organisation or another independent body for the development of global governance and verification standards for vaccine certificates.
“Australia has the expertise,” he said. “If we take action now this is an area where we can take a lead and play an important role in finding ways to rebuild our economy and those of our near neighbours.”
He said any Australian passport should be done using blockchain technology to ensure vaccinations were easily verified.
He said the development of a globally recognised COVID-19 vaccine passport, which also included recognition of Chinese vaccines, could open the way for more travel between China and Australia without people having to quarantine.
“Nations around the world are creating their own passports of various types,” he said. “The world seems to be breaking up into groups which each have their own passports. It is not a great outcome if there is a mishmash of passports. We need to be able to verify whether vaccine standards are comparable.”
Mr Olsson said China was “important for travel and business. We can’t allow China to fall out of the loop.”
He said the issue provided an “excellent opportunity for Australia and China to come together and talk about the management of health issues and how we can work together on recommended standards and procedures for a regional vaccine passport”.
“We think this is a matter of national importance and critical for our economic recovery.
“We are calling on the government to ensure we adopt a system of vaccine verification that is clear and will enable business and other travel to be resumed as quickly as possible.”
Mr Olsson said Australia was a leader in blockchain technology and was in a prime position to work with other countries in the region to develop a COVID-19 vaccine passport.
He said ACBC members were keen to see the “earliest possible” opening up of international travel borders.
“COVID-19 passports will be a prerequisite for the return of COVID-19 safe international travel and offer the potential to replace compulsory quarantine measures which are holding up essential business, student and tourist travel,” he said.
“We believe the most feasible and practical solution is the one that uses blockchain technology.
“We would like to see these passports developed in close collaboration with Beijing.
“The interests of our members and the broader Australian community would be best served by the development of COVID-19 safe protocols that facilitate rather than impede the resumption of international travel between our two countries.
“Mutual recognition of vaccine standards will be important, particularly given the importance of the Sinopharm vaccine in China and across the Indo Pacific.
“The ACBC encourages the government to consider COVID-19 passport as a platform for rebuilding trust and collaboration between Australia and China.”
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