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agriculture | farmers | food

Rice gets in way of FTA deal
22-Dec-2005 AFP
Thailand said it had refused to sign a trade agreement between South Korea and ASEAN, insisting that rice be included on the list of goods facing tariff cuts.
Chine, Thailand to wipe out trade obstables
22-Dec-2005 Asia Pulse
Thailand and China have begun a joint meeting in the former’s northern city of Chiang Rai to strengthen ties and wipe out trade obstacles, hoping to increase bilateral trade under the free trade area (FTA) framework.
Agro producers favor postponing DR-CAFTA
20-Dec-2005
The Pork Industry Association, president Jose Alba, considered that not entering the Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) in January 2006 would be a welcomed break for the productive sector. This grace period, in his view, would be well-used to correct distortions in the tax system and enable competitiveness.
Chiang Rai meeting probes Thai-China trade barriers
20-Dec-2005
Thailand and China have begun a joint meeting here to strengthen ties and remove trade barriers, hoping to increase bilateral trade under the free trade area (FTA) framework.
Natural resources in the US-Andean Free Trade Agreement
20-Dec-2005 IRC Americas Program
The three Andean countries currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States, in their double capacity as signatories to the CBD and members of the group of biologically “mega-diverse” countries, are demanding that the agreement establish regulations that clearly specify the terms of access to genetic resources and the population’s traditional knowledge, and in which proper economic consideration, conservation, and development act as guiding principles.
Nation up against last WTO barrier
18-Dec-2005
Viet Nam was awaiting the removal of the last major barrier to its entry to the World Trade Organisation - the successful conclusion of bilateral negotiations with the United States - Deputy Trade Minister Luong Van Tu has told a Vietnam News Agency correspondent.
Japanese demand better standards
17-Dec-2005
Japanese fruit producers and exporters have called for their Thai counterparts to upgrade sanitary and food safety standards if they want to succeed in promoting Thai fruit consumption in Japan.
CRS Report for Congress: Andean-US FTA negotiations
16-Dec-2005
Given that CAFTA-DR passed only by a small margin, it is unclear how much support the U.S.-Andean FTA will have.
American Farm Bureau supports free trade with Oman
14-Dec-2005
Even though Oman is a relatively small market for US agricultural exports, several factors make it an attractive export market for the United States, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
US Grains Council on US-Peru FTA
14-Dec-2005 USGC
"With this agreement, we are looking forward to gaining a significant portion of a market that has been dominated by Argentina in the past."
Peru - strike against Free Trade Agreement announced
14-Dec-2005 PULSAR
The president of Peru’s National Agrarian Confederation, Antolin Huascar Flores, announced a national strike against the recently signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. "Only grapes, asparagus and some textile is going to benefit, and the other Andean products will not. Because of this, we are preparing for a nationwide agricultural strike," he said.
S Korea signs trade deal with Asean
14-Dec-2005 Financial Times
The Korea-ASEAN FTA will include the free flow of goods, services and investments, but a stumbling block emerged with a dispute over rice imports from Thailand. The issue is a sensitive one when Korean farmers are protesting about the removal of trade barriers on farm products under the WTO.
South Korea signs free trade pact with ASEAN, excludes Thailand
13-Dec-2005 Jakarta Post
South Korea and Southeast Asian nations on Tuesday inked a tariff-slashing Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with Thailand choosing to be excluded from the pact which does not include rice in its list of items.
Statement from US sugar producers regarding US-Peru FTA
12-Dec-2005 ASA
The US sugar industry strongly prefers that negotiation of sugar market access occur in the multilateral, comprehensive WTO context, where foreign subsidies can also be addressed, rather than in bilateral and regional FTAs, where subsidies are not addressed.
Peru trade deal angers US asparagus growers
10-Dec-2005
Asparagus growers in Washington state, Michigan and California say they will ask Congress to scuttle a newly announced free-trade agreement between the United States and Peru.
Rice row threatens ASEAN-South Korea free-trade deal
9-Dec-2005 AFP
A row over Asia’s staple food, rice, is threatening to scuttle a proposed free-trade deal between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Korea, which wants to protect the key sector from tariff cuts.
African and European farmers say no to EPAs and no to a WTO agreement in HKG
7-Dec-2005
Farmers organizations from West Africa and the European Union are convinced that the EPA talks will lead to an agreement which will be detrimental to family farming unless strong corrective measures are taken.
Thailand will not sign ASEAN-S. Korea FTA: spokesman
7-Dec-2005 People’s Daily
Thailand will not sign a free trade agreement (FTA) between the Association of South East Asian Nations and South Korea because it does not include rice, government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said on Tuesday.
Panama questions FTA with US
6-Dec-2005
Panamanian farmers on Monday called for a mass demonstration December 11 to analyze the state of the negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which their government plans to sign with the United States.
Uribe: Free-trade deal to be fair
5-Dec-2005
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe pledged that the free-trade agreement that his government is negotiating with the United States will be fair, although not ideal.