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environment

Activists want waste provisions to be removed from agreement
12-Feb-2007 Bangkok Post
Activists have called on Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly to remove trade in waste and micro-organism patenting from the Japan-Thailand Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
In Colombia, free trade means murder and migration
16-Jan-2007 New America Media
If ratified by Congress, the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which President Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe signed in mid-November, could lead to more hydropower and mining projects in Colombia — and more displacement and violence.
FTA sparks toxic waste dump fears
10-Jan-2007 Bangkok Post
Greenpeace activists appealed to Tokyo yesterday to terminate a clause in the Thai-Japanese free trade agreement (FTA) which makes it easier for Japan to export toxic waste to Thailand. Under the FTA, tariffs on waste will be eliminated to help Japan’s waste exporters, the environmental group said.
Critique of the Japanese government’s strategy to export wastes to developing countries
19-Dec-2006
A Citizen Groups Joint Statement of Opinion to the Japanese government on the inclusion of toxic wastes in Japan’s FTAs, such as JPEPA.
Pulp mill conflict widens Mercosur rift
17-Dec-2006 MercoPress
Escalating mutual recriminations and complaints between Argentina and Uruguay signaled the first day of deliberations at the Mercosur ministerial meeting in Brasilia in the same week that the group officially inaugurated its Parliament.
The new ’Global Europe’ strategy of the EU: Serving corporations worldwide and at home
3-Dec-2006
Alert to European civil society groups, trade unions and social movements from the Seattle to Brussels Network
Thai-Japan free trade pact allows toxic dumping, Greenpeace warns
2-Dec-2006 Antara
Environmental protection group Greenpeace on Friday warned Thailand that its pending free trade agreement with Japan could pave the way for the dumping of toxic waste and hazardous chemical into the kingdom.
Free trade and bio-prospecting: Opportunities for Peru
10-Nov-2006 Living in Peru
Opportunities to develop bio-prospecting in Peru are on the rise. This article describes the initiatives and proposals that have paved the way towards this development on the basis of current legislation. The Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) with the United States contains potentials for this goal.
Int’l group urges Senate to reject RP-Japan trade pact
31-Oct-2006 INQ7.net
Saying Japan’s motives were "highly suspect," an international monitoring group urged the Philippine Senate on Tuesday to reject a controversial economic deal with Japan unless toxic wastes were removed from the list of products that could be brought into the Philippines.
Bilateral biosafety bullies
30-Oct-2006 GRAIN
This new briefing from GRAIN and the African Centre for Biosafety looks at how governments, the agribusiness sector and transnational companies are increasingly using bilateral trade agreements to prise open markets for genetically modified crops.
JPEPA to encourage trade in hazardous and toxic waste
26-Oct-2006 Inside PCIJ
A summary of the current debate over the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement by the Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism.
DENR opposed waste dumping in trade deal but gave in to DTI
26-Oct-2006 PDI
The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) tried but failed to stop the government from including toxic and hazardous wastes from the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), yielding to pressure.
Senate indignant, CBCP sad over ‘toxic’ accord
26-Oct-2006 PDI
Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, yesterday said he was saddened by the agreement that environmentalists fear would turn the Philippines into Japan’s dump for toxic wastes. Indignation was also voiced in the Senate and calls were made for an investigation of the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
RP-Japan accord ‘toxic’
25-Oct-2006 PDI
A new dump for toxic waste may soon open for Japan — and it has 7,100 islands. This is how concerned environmentalists see the likely effect of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signed on Sept. 9 in Helsinki on the side of the Asia-Europe Meeting.
Bush free trade plan puts Amazon up for grabs
13-Oct-2006 Bush Greenwatch
The Bush administration is quietly pressing for a free trade agreement with Peru that will put the Amazon rainforest - often described as one of the earth’s lungs - on the chopping block.
Environmental Implications of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement
30-Sep-2006 jemy gatdula
Last September 9, 2006 in Finland, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Japanese Prime Minister Junihiro Koizumi signed the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), a bilateral preferential trade treaty between Japan and the Philippines that seeks to remove barriers to investments and the trade of goods and services between the two countries.
Smelters return home from Lanka
21-Sep-2006
A majority of Indian secondary copper smelters based in Sri Lanka are winding up their operations in that country because of economic problem as well as threat perception over local environmental issues.
Asean-Australia-NZ FTA may be concluded in 2007
25-Aug-2006
The Asean-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks could be concluded in 2007, despite some wrangling over issues like government procurements and environment.
Labour & environmental issues in FTA talk, says NZ
20-Aug-2006 Bernama
Labour and environmental issues will still be included in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation between Australia, New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a senior New Zealand trade official said.
Making free trade fair
15-Aug-2006
Ukrit Kungsawanich, a fruit grower in Rayong, was worried when he read in the news that a US company is trying to patent a drink made with mangosteen extract.