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Food sovereignty and free-trade agreements
From 11th to 13th January 2008, 21 delegates and members of Via Campesina, from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, South Korea, Norway, France, Haiti, Mali, Italy, the United States, Mozambique, Turkey, the Basque Country and Nepal, met in Dijon for a strategic seminar on the theme “Food Sovereignty and Free-Trade Agreements” convened and organised by the Via Campesina’s Food Sovereignty work committee.
EU keen to renegotiate Mauritania fish deal
European Commission experts will head to Mauritania later this week to renegotiate the EU’s most valuable fishing deal with another country. The European Union has signed more than 20 bilateral fishing agreements, nearly all with developing countries and mostly in Africa, that give the EU a substantial extra supply of fish. The deal with Mauritania is the largest and most valuable.
FTAs and safety standards
Unlike India, most Asean countries have a very robust regime of quality and safety standards for products imported into their markets. What that means under an India-ASEAN FTA is that Indian manufacturers, despite having lower entry tariffs into Asean, will still not be able to export their products unless they meet the strict safety and quality regulations of those countries.