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agriculture | farmers | food


Japan, Australia achieve FTA breakthrough on farm products
Japan and Australia have reached a broad agreement on how to deal with farm products as they continue negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement, government sources said Sunday.
Amul requests for a relook at EU-India FTA
India’s largest dairy co-operative - Amul - has requested the commerce ministry to relook at the EU-India Free Trade Agreement.
Hokkaido predicts TPP will halve output of farm, forestry and fishery products
Hokkaido, Japan’s largest breadbasket prefecture, says its production of agricultural, forestry and fishery products will be halved to 524.1 billion yen if the country joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks and all relevant tariffs are lifted.
Japan may open beef in TPP trade talks, former adviser says
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may sacrifice barriers protecting Japan’s beef and wheat farmers as he joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks, said a former government adviser on farm policy.
Farmers rally in Tokyo against Japan’s entry into TPP talks
Japan’s largest farm group rallied Tuesday in Tokyo to protest against the government’s entry into the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks.
Cargill settles NAFTA dispute with Mexico
Cargill has reached a settlement with Mexico in a dispute that resulted in a $77 million arbitration award for the US agribusiness company
CETA Investor-State Dispute Settlement process “anti-democratic, unnecessary and unfair,” says NFU
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).
India should review FTAs to boost farm exports: CACP chief
India should review Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that it has entered into with ASEAN, Japan and Korea to boost farm exports, according to a discussion paper co-authored by CACP chief Ashok Gulati.
Out of the frying pan...into trade liberalisation: SAFTA a disaster for Pakistan’s agriculture sector
The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) appears to be a ‘disaster’ for Pakistan’s agricultural sector and is backed only by the industrial lobby.
MFN status to Pakistan remains fruitless for agri sector: USAID
The Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan could not prove instrumental in increasing agriculture exports to India, observed a report sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Mexico finds unlikely allies in trade fight
As tomato growers in Florida and some other states fight a 16-year-old agreement that they contend allows farmers in Mexico to export tomatoes at a price below their costs, the Mexican farmers are finding allies in the United States.
SRA wants sugar quota allocation from Japan
The government is asking Japan that Filipino sugar exporters be given a regular quota of 150,000-200,000 metric tons per year under the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).
Ag coalition says US-EU FTA must include agriculture
A coalition of US food and agricultural organizations led by the National Pork Producers Council reiterated that any US-EU FTA deal must include agriculture and that the EU must address non-tariff trade barriers.
Cargill says Mexico owes it $95 million in NAFTA dispute
US agribusiness company Cargill Inc. filed a suit in a US court on Tuesday to compel Mexico to pay a $94.6 million award over trade barriers the company says Mexico put up against high-fructose corn syrup from 2002 to 2007.
Carefully weigh pros and cons of free trade area
Discussion of the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be a highlight of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Thailand next week. But the government will have to seriously consider the pros and cons of the TPP, to ensure the regional trade agreement will improve Thailand’s competitiveness and boost our capacity to enter the regional market.
Understanding free trade through the KORUS FTA & the necessity of regional economic cooperation
This booklet is based on the discussions between activists and academics during strategy meetings in Seoul and in Japan about economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. It focuses on the KORUS FTA which is a model of TPPA but also deals with the alternative model.
Food crisis: The fight for corn
In an era of food crisis, the fight for corn has intensified, and the importance of this grain—a staple in the Mexican diet and a large part of the world—has been revealed to the fullest extent.
Treaty tolls death knell for Mexican countryside
The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations, which Mexico is to join in December, are threatening to eliminate the last defences of the country’s agricultural sector.
Do the Canada-EU CETA negotiations have a new sugar problem?
Long the bête noire of Canadian trade policy, the supply managed dairy and poultry industries might have some new company.
Gillard cites food security in push for Japanese trade agreement
Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has used rising concern in Japan about food security to renew the push to finalise a Free Trade Agreement.