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Caricom maintains independence in external negotiations
20-Feb-2013
The 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom) will be funding all future negotiations itself, according to Guyana’s Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. She recently informed the 65-seat National Assembly, current negotiations between Caricom and Canada for a Trade and Development Agreement are being funded by the region.
Pacific countries urged to weigh up EPAs
20-Feb-2013
Pacific nations involved in negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union are being warned that while it’s important negotiations are soon concluded, it’s more important to get the right outcome.
Export flexibility with ROO
20-Feb-2013
The rules of origin (ROO) in the context of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) provides Fijian exporters the maximum flexibility to export Fijian Made and Fijian Grown products into the European Union.
India seeks UK’s support to fast-track FTA with EU
20-Feb-2013
India Tuesday sought Britain’s support for early conclusion of its much-discussed free trade deal with the European Union.
EPA talks at critical stage
20-Feb-2013 The Jet
The European Union has acknowledged the seriousness by both Fiji and her Pacific neighbors who are part of the African Caribbean and Pacific group to conclude negotiations into the Economic Partnership Agreement.
Investors running wild on land: the threats posed by international investment agreements
20-Feb-2013 Traidcraft
A recent briefing note by Traidcraft discusses the threats posed by current regulation of foreign investment in land highlighting that food security and other human rights concerns often come at the cost of excessive protection of foreign investors’ rights.
Plain packaging for cigarettes a legal minefield
18-Feb-2013
Lawsuits are seen as the inevitable next step if plain packaging of cigarettes is brought in. The government will announce a decision on the matter in the next few days.
The EU’s free trade agreements – where are we?
18-Feb-2013 EU
Memo from the European Commission
EU Parliamentarians push RP FTA
18-Feb-2013 Manila Bulletin
Visiting EU Parliamentarians expect the bilateral free trade agreement between the Philippines and EU will be completed in one and a half years as the legislators urged for further opening of the domestic economy to shore up the country’s foreign direct investments and more trade.
Germany calls for sweeping EU-US free trade deal
18-Feb-2013 Reuters
German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler told Der Spiegel magazine on Sunday he and the German government want a sweeping free trade deal, while France and southern EU nations, by contrast, want to protect their agriculture industry with regulations and also keep out genetically modified US foodstuffs, the magazine said.
EU-US free trade deal will dismantle EU public health protections on GM foods
18-Feb-2013 Earth Open Source
An EU-US free trade deal would obliterate EU safeguards for health and the environment with regard to genetically modified (GM) crops and foods, warns Earth Open Source.
New law to deal with compensating foreign investors for expropriation
18-Feb-2013 Business Day
One of the most contentious issues dealt with in a draft new Foreign Investment Bill, which the South African Department of Trade and Industry will present to an interministerial committee in the next few months, will deal with how the South African government will compensate foreign investors in the event of expropriation, deputy director-general of international trade Xavier Carim said on Friday.
CETA Investor-State Dispute Settlement process “anti-democratic, unnecessary and unfair,” says NFU
16-Feb-2013 National Farmers Union
The National Farmers Union is among the labour, environmental, Indigenous, women’s, academic, health sector and fair trade organizations representing over 65 million people from both sides of the Atlantic that have signed a joint statement demanding that Canada and the EU stop negotiating an excessive and controversial investor rights chapter in the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Alert! EU-US Transatlantic FTA - Call for mobilisation in Europe and the United States
16-Feb-2013 S2B
EU-US Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement:. Join us to stop this "free trade" agenda.
At your service: the European Services Forum’s privileged access to the EU Commission over EU trade policy
16-Feb-2013 CEO
A recent documentary on lobbying in the EU highlights the historically intimate links between the EU Commission and European services companies. New research reveals that they are as close as ever, working hand in glove to liberalise and deregulate services markets – from Canada to the ASEAN region, from the US to India.
India-EU FTA negotiations may conclude by April
14-Feb-2013
Negotiations for the India-EU Free Trade agreement may conclude by April this year, moving a step closer to sealing of the pact that is expected to boost trade and investment.
Intra-EU bilateral investment treaties: A test for European solidarity
14-Feb-2013 TNI
Corporations in Western Europe are suing Central and Eastern European countries at international arbitration tribunals through a vast web of intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs).
Why can corporate interests trump sovereign rights?
14-Feb-2013 TRNN
Real News Network interviews Chakravarthi Raghavan on how companies can sue countries under trade and investment agreements
France will help finalise India-EU FTA: Hollande
14-Feb-2013 IANS
France will support India on its negotiations with the EU on clinching a free trade agreement, President Francois Hollande said in New Delhi Thursday, stressing that French companies should have greater access to the Indian market as a result.
SOTU, TPP, TAFTA — WTF?
14-Feb-2013 Huffington Post
The Trans-Atlantic FTA’s focus would not be trade per se — border taxes (tariffs) between the EU and the US are already low. Rather, these talks are aimed at eliminating a list of what multinational corporations call "trade irritants" but the rest of us know as strong food safety, environmental and health safeguards, explains Lori Wallach.