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Open letter to the European Parliament: Human rights before free trade with Vietnam
3-Oct-2019 ACAT
ACAT and 47 Vietnamese and international organizations urge members of the European Parliament to delay consideration of the free trade agreement with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
On China, principles vs pragmatism
16-Sep-2019 The Interpreter
Australia needs to consider its moments to push human rights issues with its largest trading partner.
Australia should delay free trade deal with Hong Kong, ACTU says
28-Aug-2019 The Guardian
Canberra must tread cautiously amid the political instability, the peak union body tells a parliamentary committee.
EU-Vietnam trade deal shows EU will bend human rights standards if the price is right
17-Aug-2019 ASEAN Today
The new EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (FTA) shows the EU will look past human rights violations to push a trade agenda. But as FTAs with ASEAN states don’t offer the EU the same economic benefits, it’s unlikely the bloc will pen more in the near future.
EU seems to have forgiven Thai military ruler
8-Aug-2019 Asia Times
EU is gaining a reputation in Southeast Asia for being hypocritical. Clearly, now, pragmatism is coming before principles, and values are to be provisional to trade policy.
EU-Philippine free trade agreement still on the table
14-Jul-2019 Inquirer Net
The EU Commission or the Council never have adopted any decision to suspend the EU - Philippines FTA negotiation
The EU’s human rights and free trade conundrum
9-Jul-2019 Asia Times
Today the EU looks to be perfectly happy to expand trade with authoritarian regimes with appalling human rights records when the economic gains are sufficiently large.
Human rights concerns stall PH free trade talks with EU
9-Jul-2019 Inquirer Net
The European Union has suspended negotiations for a free trade deal with the Philippines partly due to concerns over human rights protection as the government wages war against illegal drugs.
340+ organisations call on the EU to immediately halt trade negotiations with Brazil
18-Jun-2019 S2B
In an open letter, over 340 civil society organisations are demanding that the European Union immediately halt free trade agreement negotiations with the Mercosur bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) on the grounds of deteriorating human rights and environmental conditions in Brazil.
Canada’s updated trade agreement with Israel violates international law
3-Jun-2019 The Conversation
The agreement allows goods and services produced in the Israeli settlements to enter Canada on the same tariff-free terms as goods and services originating in Israel.
Climate change, CAFTA and forced migration
25-May-2019 IATP
Climate change and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have destabilized the economies and lives of many in Central America and are driving migration.
Global anti-Chevron day objects corporate crimes and impunity
22-May-2019 Tele Sur
Thousands of demonstrators across all five continents have joined the International Anti-Chevron day to peacefully protest and display global crimes committed by the transnational company against human rights and the environment.
China: ‘Belt and Road’ projects should respect rights
23-Apr-2019 Human Rights Watch
The Chinese government should ensure the projects it finances or engages in under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) respect human rights, said Human Rights Watch.
The globalisation of border control and peoples’ resistance
14-Mar-2019 TNI
A workshop aimed to promote a collective analysis of border control, focusing on the power and impunity of transnational corporations, militarization, the externalization of borders, and the link between free trade and migration.
Just, open and green
22-Feb-2019 New Internationalist
Trade is for and about people. It should never be separated from its social context. Trade should improve people’s lives and the public good.
EU begins process to hit Cambodia with trade sanctions
12-Feb-2019 Reuters
The European Union started an 18-month process that could lead to the suspension of Cambodia’s duty-free trade access over its record on human rights and democracy.
EU: Postpone vote on Vietnam free trade agreement
10-Jan-2019 Human Rights Watch
The European Parliament and the European Council should postpone the ratification of the proposed EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement until the Vietnamese government takes concrete steps to improve its increasingly abusive human rights record.
There’s a hidden cost in Trump’s new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico
3-Jan-2019 Washington Post
Investment treaties with ISDS provisions make it hard to tax foreign firms and worsen human rights and labor practices.
The EU’s trade challenge
28-Nov-2018 Euractiv
The international trading system is facing a crisis – but protectionism isn’t the biggest test EU leaders must deal with.
Special economic zones: engines of development or sites of exploitation?
8-Nov-2018 IIED
Many SEZs have been associated with compressions of land, labour and human rights. Investment treaties protect investments against adverse regulatory change, including in SEZs. To date, investors have brought at least 20 arbitrations to challenge diverse aspects of SEZ regimes.