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Japan: A shift in rice production policy
2-Dec-2013 Japan Times
The Japanese government has announced plans to end its policy of limiting rice production and to phase out related subsidies by 2018 in a major shift from the decades-long program aimed at keeping up rice prices but which has been criticized for overprotecting farmers from competition.
Saharawi natural resource group calls on EU to not accept Morocco deal
1-Dec-2013 WSRW
The Saharawi Natural Resources Watch has called on all European Parliamentarians, to reject the new EU-Morocco fishing agreement, which will be voted in December in the European Parliament so as to “honor Europe and its peoples”.
Challenging Harper’s imperialist agenda
29-Nov-2013 Monthly Review
The imperialist agenda of the Harper regime has widened the gulf between foreign and economic policy objectives of the Canadian state and the vision of a more democratic and just world order of the Canadian people.
South Korea to have preliminary talks on joining TPP - Yonhap
29-Nov-2013 Reuters
South Korea plans to enter into preliminary negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact and will inform the main countries involved of its intention, Yonhap news agency quoted the finance minister as saying on Friday.
Free-trade pact may muddy GrainCorp deal
29-Nov-2013 Sydney Morning Herald
A side deal in the free-trade agreement with the United States that the Howard government negotiated in 2004 is a wildcard as the Abbott government deals with divisions in its ranks over Archer Daniels Midland’s $3.4 billion takeover offer for GrainCorp, the biggest grain handler in eastern Australia.
Ukraine sees positive result at EU summit on free-trade pact
28-Nov-2013 Bloomberg
The EU reiterated that the deal is still on the table. “We have to get over this either-or mentality,” Merkel said. “The Cold War is over.”
Brussels nervous on public reaction to EU-US trade talks
28-Nov-2013 EU Observer
The European Commission last week discussed with member states how best to go about communicating a EU-US trade deal to the public and national media.
TICFA, political economy of US bilateralism and Bangladesh
28-Nov-2013 Countercurrents
It should come as no surprise that TICFA is not really an economic cooperation or development agreement, writes Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan in Countercurrents.
Scrapped EU-Ukraine trade deal is good news for China
27-Nov-2013 Forbes
A long-term beneficiary of Ukraine’s decision could prove to be China, who is investing heavily in Ukraine as a major source of energy and agricultural products
The alternative trade mandate
26-Nov-2013 TNI
The Alternative Trade Mandate has been developed in extensive civil society consultations all over Europe.
Zero tariff for 10 categories of Indian imports
26-Nov-2013
Despite the adverse impact on local industries, the Government has allowed tariff-free imports on ten categories of Indian goods, which had hitherto remained in the negative list under the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, Daily Mirror learns.
Is ICSID really good for the Canadian taxpayer?
26-Nov-2013
Most trade lawyers across the country are lauding Canada’s ratification of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention. But they glaze over the serious and far-reaching effects for Canadian public policy.
Korea, Vietnam agree to work more closely on FTA
26-Nov-2013
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 24 that it held the fourth bilateral joint committee meeting with the Vietnamese government in Can Tho City. The conclusion of the free trade agreement between Korea and Vietnam is expected to speed up.
FTA talks with Seoul, Beijing start
26-Nov-2013
Japan, China and South Korea began their third round of free trade talks in Tokyo on Tuesday, with a wide range of areas such as intellectual property and goods and services on the agenda.
Israel’s argiculture seeds taking root in Vietnam
26-Nov-2013 Israel21C
An Israeli-Vietnamese agriculture research and development fund — and a free-trade agreement between the two countries — may be established soon, following a series of high-level visits.
Ticfa with US signed at last
26-Nov-2013 Daily Star
The government of Bangladesh, after more than a decade of talks, yesterday inked the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa) with the US
Ill-fated India-EU FTA gets new demand from Belgium
26-Nov-2013 Business Standard
Belgium has demanded greater access to public procurement market for large-scale contracts under the proposed India-EU free trade agreement (FTA), whose fate already hangs in balance. The country also stressed on further tariff reduction on goods by India.
Trade unions oppose privileged rights for Big Business in EU-Canada trade deal
26-Nov-2013 4traders
The European Trade Union Confederation strongly opposes the inclusion of ISDS in CETA, and the subsequent creation of a parallel court system which allows multinationals to sue and threaten governments with heavy costs for doing their democratic job of regulating their societies and economies.
Possible FTA with EU raises fears for agriculture
26-Nov-2013 Business World
Further opening up the Philippine’s agriculture industry to competition with the European Union through a free trade agreement may put the sector at risk, according to the head of the non-government organization IBON Foundation, Inc.
More than 100 organizations sign transatlantic statement opposing dangerous investor "rights" chapter in CETA
26-Nov-2013 Council of Canadians
As European and Canadian trade officials meet again in Brussels today to continue negotiating an investment protection chapter in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), transatlantic civil society groups are demanding that this chapter be removed entirely as an affront to democracy, an attack on the independent judiciary, and a threat to climate change and our shared environment.