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agriculture | farmers | food

Trade pacts to the south losing appeal
30-Jun-2005 New York Times
An ambitious American plan for a hemispherewide trade pact, which President Bush described as a "vital link for prosperity," is mired in disputes that have led to widespread skepticism about its chances of ever materializing.
S Korea blames Japan for trade impasse
28-Jun-2005 Financial Times
Eighteen months of talks over a proposed bilateral trade agreement between Japan and South Korea are on the verge of collapse because Japan’s Agriculture Ministry has blocked meaningful dialogue on trade in farm and marine products, a South Korean diplomat said yesterday.
Beef holds up Korean-Canadian FTA
27-Jun-2005
Canada and Korea have enjoyed decades of positive bilateral relations and the future looks bright except for one major obstacle - beef - that is holding back negotiations for a free trade agreement between the countries.
Thai Govt urged to put off US talks
11-Jun-2005 Bangkok Post
Farm advocates, intellectual property rights experts and farmers groups yesterday called on the government to postpone the upcoming round of free trade negotiations with the United States that would focus on intellectual property rights (IP) to avoid the impact on farmers.
Free trade free-for-all
11-Jun-2005 BoiseWeekly
US farmers are already sitting on 700,000 tons of surplus sugar nationally, stockpiled as the result of deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pacts with the World Trade Organization. Farmers must store the surplus at their own expense and fear those tons could multiply under a CAFTA deal.
Dairy connection to free-trade deal
8-Jun-2005
Despite last week’s political hype caused by Prime Minister Helen Clark’s talks with China’s top leadership - much of it fuelled by Clark - there is a big gap between the two sides on free-trade talks.
No FTA talks until Seoul resumes beef imports: US
6-Jun-2005
US Trade Representative Rob Portman on Friday said Korea must resume import of U.S. beef and lift a screen quota that disadvantages Hollywood films if it wants to start negotiating a free trade agreement with Washington.
P4 Economic Partnership Agreement - key outcomes
5-Jun-2005 Scoop
Press release from NZ government outlining key features of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.
Korea urges Japan to open up
5-Jun-2005 Asia Times
Japan needs to allow South Korean products greater access to its agricultural and fisheries markets in an effort to advance stalled bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) talks, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said on Friday.
Will CAFTA be a boon to farmers and the food industry? NAFTA’s failed promises are doomed to be repeated
3-Jun-2005 Economic Policy Institute
Promoters of the proposed Dominican Republic/Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have asserted that it will provide significant benefits to the U.S. economy, especially to the agricultural sector. Similar promises were made in the debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992 and 1993. However, since that time NAFTA has failed to live up to these promises, and similar promises made for CAFTA are even less likely to be fulfilled.
Civil society in revolt against EU-ACP trade agreements
2-Jun-2005 AllAfrica.com
African civil society organizations supported by a number of major European NGOs have moved into clear confrontation with the European Commission on the issue of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA). They say these deals will wreck domestic African agriculture and industry and are warning African politicians not to go along with them.
Declaración de Dili: 10 años de OMC son suficientes! Por la defensa de la soberanía y la expulsión de la OMC
2-Jun-2005
Estamos afrontando varios impactos negativos tanto de la OMC como de los TLC. Por ejemplo, Tailandia, conocida como el país con mayor exportación de arroz; sus campesinos están sufriendo muchísimo y están perdiendo la tierra así como las semillas locales.
Dili Declaration: Ten years of WTO is enough! Defense sovereignty and expelling WTO
2-Jun-2005
We are facing severe negative impact of both WTO and FTA. For instance, Thailand known as the biggest rice exporting country but Thai peasant has been suffering in huge amount of debt and losing the land as well as the local seeds.
Colombia iffy over FTA negotiations with US
29-May-2005
Colombia’s Minister of Trade Jorge Humberto Botero said Friday his government is undecided whether it should attend the 10th Round of Negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US, to be held in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Colombian farmers blackball FTA negotiations
27-May-2005 Prensa Latina
Colombia’s Farmers Association has urged its government not to attend the 10th Free Trade of Americas (FTA) Round of Negotiations with the US, to be held in June in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Indonesia hopes to expand farm exports to Japan through an FTA
21-May-2005 Kyodo
Indonesia hopes to expand farm product exports to Japan through a bilateral free trade agreement, on which the two countries are soon expected to launch formal negotiations.
Racism, rights ’could hurt China FTA’
18-May-2005 Sydney Morning Herald
Racism and left wing politicians focusing on human rights could threaten a proposed free trade deal between Australia and China, a new report says.
Korea, US to discuss FTA in Cheju meeting
11-May-2005 Korea Times
South Korea will discuss the possibility of a free trade pact with the United States at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers’ meeting.
Zoellick’s visit fails to ease Thai concerns
5-May-2005
Thailand was Robert Zoellick’s first stop on a week-long visit to Southeast Asia to discuss economic, security and political issues.
Benguet farmers still wary of veggie imports
4-May-2005 PDI
Provincial officials heaved a sigh of relief when a Philippine-China trade agreement, which covered vegetables and other items, was not one of the documents signed during last week’s visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the country.