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Fiji and Papua New Guinea: green light for economic agreement
MEPs on Wednesday gave their green light for the Council to conclude an Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with Papua New Guinea and Fiji, two countries of the Pacific Region with significant exports to the EU.
FMD ― a manmade disaster
Free trade agreements aggravate the animal pandemic further by preventing one country from rooting it out fundamentally because of mandatory import and consumption of foreign meat products.
Japan, Ukraine eye investment, technology sharing in agriculture
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych have agreed to launch negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty
ANCA welcomes AmCham call for new US-Armenia trade agreement
The American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia’s public call for a US-Armenia Trade and Investment Agreement was welcomed on Jan. 18 by the Armenian National Committee of America as a meaningful step toward putting in place a much-needed bilateral accord aimed at creating new export-driven jobs and economic growth in the US and Armenia.
Kan wants EU free-trade talks to start this year
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Wednesday he hopes to launch negotiations this year on a free-trade agreement with the European Union.
Canada-EU talks facing delays
Even as Canadian and European Union negotiators sit down this week for the sixth round of free trade talks, a series of sensitive issues—both political and technical—are causing delays.
TPPA: Challenges for Australian health and medicine policies
Of particular concern is that proposed TPPA multilateral investor–state dispute settlement procedures would allow US corporations (as well as those of other TPPA nations) to obtain damages against Australian governments through international arbitral proceedings if their investments are impeded by Australian public health and environment protection legislation.
Venezuela and Ecuador consolidate bilateral agreements, SUCRE currency system
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro met on Monday with the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patiño, to evaluate the progress of their country’s bilateral agreements. Among the ambitious goals set during the meeting was an increase in the use of the sucre, a regional currency being used in trade between the two countries.
US, South Korea officials to continue work on final text of trade deal
The planned amendments mostly involve provisions sought by the US to improve access for auto exports, in return for some concessions on the phasing of tariffs on US pork.
Chinese firm launches 1.5-billion-dollar mall in Bangkok
’The purpose of the project is to respond to the vigorous growth of the ASEAN-China free trade area,’ said Dong Hongqi, president of the Ashima Yunnan Cultural Industry Group, a Yunnan-based state enterprise, brushing off criticism that the complex was designed to promote cheap Chinese goods on the Thai market to the detriment of local producers.
Peru-EU FTA to come into effect January 2012
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Peru and the European Union may come into force in January 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) announced Tuesday.
Trade pact with Gulf Cooperation Council on the cards
The framework of the cooperation agreement between Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries has been completed and the next step is to sign the free trade agreement, according to Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
Lobby group formed to force openness on free trade agreement
Following Professor Jane Kelsey’s plea for greater openness in negotiations around the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement (TPPA), a lobby consisting of trade unionists and others and calling itself TPP Watch has launched an online petition to force release of the interim text of the treaty as it is negotiated.
JA at crossroads / TPP, agriculture can coexist / But reform of huge farming federation is unavoidable
The success or failure of advancing Japan’s trade liberalization while strengthening the agricultural sector will largely hinge on the prospects for reforming agricultural cooperatives, known as JA.
’Jasmine Revolution’ jolts EU’s north Africa strategy
Sweden’s foreign minister and ex-prime minister, Carl Bildt, has called the EU’s north African strategy a "failure" of democracy in the wake of Tunisia’s ’Jasmine Revolution.’
Protest against CETA at the European Commission in Brussels
This morning the Council of Canadians joined with Canadian allies — the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the National Farmers Union, the Indigenous Environmental Network, ATTAC-Quebec, Alternatives — and European allies — Friends of the Earth Europe, the UK Tar Sands Network, La Via Campesina Europe — in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels to denounce the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the tar sands.
Protesters invade British government office over tar sands trade deal
On Friday morning, a group of protesters invaded Britain’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and are demanding a meeting with Stephen Green, the new minister for trade. Calling themselves the "Big Society Trade Negotiators," they are concerned that trade negotiations between the EU and Canada, due to start in Brussels on Monday, will dramatically boost Europe’s involvement in the Canadian tar sands — the most destructive project on earth.
Trade Justice Network to challenge Canada-EU free trade talks in Brussels, Strasbourg
Members of the Trade Justice Network, which comprises over two dozen Canadian environmental, labour, Indigenous, farmers, and social justice organizations critical of the CETA negotiations, will travel to Brussels and Strasbourg next week to meet with European decision makers and civil society groups to express their opposition to the deal.
Free trade critic warns of ’secondary liability’
Staunch Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement critic Jane Kelsey says a campaign by the powerful US entertainment industry to use the proposed free trade deal to make internet firms liable for illegal user downloads must not succeed.
Interview: China-ASEAN FTA adds new vitality into Sino-Philippine economic and trade cooperation: official
"It’s fair to say the Philippines is becoming one of the main destinations for Chinese companies to make overseas investment," says Wu Zhengping, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese embassy in the Philippines.