Essentially, all logistical and practical issues of the proposed effort remained unresolved at the start of the third meeting. Both sides had exchanged views and agreed, in principle, to cooperate by mutually making resources available. However, no formal agreement had been reached.
Notwithstanding, the Australians remained eager to obtain a formal agreement. The Australian team organized the 2003 meeting. While both parties had signaled their intention to attend the 2003 conference.