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agriculture | farmers | food

Kenya races to safeguard EU market with post-Brexit pact
29-Jun-2020 Business Daily
Kenya has initiated talks with the European Union and the United Kingdom on a post-Brexit trade agreement as the country moves to safeguard its horticultural produce market.
Planting seeds of doubt
29-Jun-2020 Bangkok Post
As sporadic tensions flare over US-China trade, a fierce debate also continues at home, centred on whether Thailand should join a trade pact touted as creating the third-largest free trade area in the world.
New NAFTA takes effect next month. US is already threatening legal challenges
19-Jun-2020 CBC
The new North American trade agreement isn’t even in effect yet and the Trump administration is warning Canada and Mexico they might face legal actions under the pact.
China to step up US agriculture purchases under phase one trade war deal after Hawaii talks, sources say
19-Jun-2020 South China Morning Post
China pledged to buy US$36.5 billion worth of American agriculture products under the phase one deal, up from US$24 billion in 2017, before the trade war.
US-European trade talks stalled over ‘unsafe’ American food
18-Jun-2020 Euractiv
US trade talks with the European Union and Britain have stalled in part due to suspicions of poor American food standards, Washington’s chief negotiator said.
RCEP will undermine fight against COVID19 pandemic
18-Jun-2020 APWLD
The 15 governments must consider the adverse impact of the mega FTA and put an end to trade agreements such as RCEP as they only increase protection and power of multinational corporations.
US trade deal ’could pose greatest risk to UK food since BSE crisis’
15-Jun-2020 Sky News
Consumer group Which? is warning the government not to allow in chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef.
Collectively to reject the RCEP negotiations in the middle of a pandemic
15-Jun-2020 Hukum Online
Amid the pandemic Covid-19 outbreak with the protocol health of all States, the trade negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is still ongoing. The Government should use the momentum of the pandemic to assess thorough draft related agreements RCEP.
Call to action! Stop EFTA countries to undermine farmers’ rights to seed in free trade agreements
11-Jun-2020 Recht auf saatgut
Sign-on the letter for organisations.
Steamed-up Parker slams ’derisory’ leaked EU trade offer
9-Jun-2020 Business Desk
The EU exported the equivalent of just under a kilogram of cheese to New Zealand per New Zealander in 2019 and, under the leaked offer, the EU proposes letting in just over 3 grams of New Zealand cheese per EU citizen
US trade deal could cripple agriculture, manufacturing in Kenya
9-Jun-2020 The East African
The agreement portends the danger of crippling sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing and disintegration of its economy in Kenya.
Cabinet unrest over U-turn on animal welfare in US trade talks
8-Jun-2020 The Guardian
Leaked letter instructs ministers to have ‘no specific policy’ on the issue.
Government ready to open British markets to chlorinated chicken for US trade deal
5-Jun-2020 The Independent
The move would represent a significant loosening of the current situation where complying with high European welfare and sanitary standards for food are a requirement across a wide range of foods.
Perils of the US-India free trade agreement for Indian farmers
5-Jun-2020 GRAIN
US-India deal would greatly compromise India’s huge diversity of local seeds and plants which are conserved and reused by millions of Indian farmers year after year. It will also destroy India’s hope for food sovereignty.
China halts some US farm imports, threatening trade deal
2-Jun-2020 Bloomberg
Chinese government officials told major state-run agricultural companies to pause purchases of some American farm goods including soybeans as Beijing evaluates the ongoing escalation of tensions with the US over Hong Kong.
Trade war: UK government blasted for ’unacceptable’ aspect of US trade negotiations
29-May-2020 Express
The UK Department for International Trade has been blasted for its claims that the UK has enough trading clout to assert itself in US trade talks, amid concerns.
Brexit trade warning: British farmers ‘will go out of business’ under UK-US trade deal
27-May-2020 Express
A trade deal with the United States risks jeopardising the livelihoods of farmers in Britain, former environment secretary has warned, predicting many "will go out of business".
The true cost of the EU-Mercosur trade deal
26-May-2020 Friends of the Earth Europe
The EU-Mercosur trade deal comes at a tremendous expense for people and the planet. Dire consequences are looming both on regional and global levels.
Farmers urge UK government to protect food standards in post-Brexit trade bill
22-May-2020 The Guardian
Union and consumer groups warn post-Brexit trade policy must hold food imports to same standards as UK.
How capitalism and other viruses are ravaging the Global South
19-May-2020 Jacobin
The economic hegemony exerted by the trade regime — and related financial structures — mirrors and extends old colonial patterns of exploitation and dispossession. Its policies represent our “normal.”