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SADC to set new Customs Union deadline
After missing the 2010 deadline, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will now negotiate a new target date for the transformation of the organisation into a Customs Union (CU), during the 2015 Ordinary Summit.
NZ IT industry mobilises to fight TPP software patent threat
The Institute of IT Professionals joins the NZ Open Source Society in questioning TPP deal on software patents.
Opinion: crisis, emergency measures and failure of the ISDS system: the case of Argentina
The dozens of cases that were initiated against Argentina as a result of the outburst of one of its worst economic and financial crises in late 2001 became an often-quoted sad illustration of many of these shortcomings of the ISDS system.
Regional cooperation pact talks: China demands more concessions from India, Japan
Beijing blocked a preliminary agreement on goods market liberalisation at the last Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations round.
Why TPP threatens to undermine one of the fundamental principles of science
Data exclusivity is a kind of super-patent that is an incredibly powerful form of monopoly.
Why South Africa’s health minister is so worried about India caving in to big pharma
A big supplier of cheap lifesaving drugs to developing nations, India admirably balances public health needs with private profits and innovation. But it is under pressure to change this model.
In hurrying trade deal with Vietnam, the EU is bypassing its human rights obligations
FIDH and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights said that if finalised without conducting a human-rights impact assessment and without introducing the necessary human rights safeguards, the EU-Vietnam Free trade and investment agreement would be concluded in violation of EU law.
Bangladesh pushes for free trade with Turkey
Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has pushed for a free trade agreement with Turkey to expand trade ties
Jakarta open to TPP now after Obama’s US Senate victory
Indonesia is now open to joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement following United States President Barack Obama’s victory in a congressional battle over the pact
Protesters battle hail and TPPA talks
About 200 people braved the unpredictable weather to join the anti-Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement march and rally
Canadian filmmaker fears for creative freedom under the TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership leans towards rules that lock up works of art and stifle independent creators’ output
Bechtel revokes GLNG workers’ leave ahead of China FTA protest march
A protest march planned by five major trade unions over the China free-trade agreement has set on edge management at United States construction giant Bechtel
GVK ban fallout: India defers FTA talks with EU
India government has deferred talks with the European Union on the proposed free trade agreement, peeved at the ban imposed on around 700 pharma products, which were clinically tested by GVK Biosciences.
Data flows in TTIP
Data flows in TTIP could result in a significant weakening of consumers’ fundamental rights to privacy and to the protection of personal data
Q&A: How Southeast Asian economic zone could change region
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations aims to establish an economic community known as the AEC whose ultimate goal is said to allow free trade, investment and movement of workers between the 10 nations that make up the grouping
Pakistan seeking trade agreement with Belarus
In a bid to give a boost to bilateral trade, Pakistani authorities have offered Belarus a preferential trade agreement
International investment agreements and Africa’s structural transformation: a perspective from South Africa
The brief describes the widening debate on the implications of international investment agreements for sustainable development and outlines the broad features of alternative policy approaches to foreign direct investment
The risks of mutual recognition of voluntary industry standards within the context of a future EU - US trade agreement (TTIP) and alternative approaches
Report sets out the risks to the voluntary single standard system that would arise from the mutual recognition of European and US industry standards
Why Europe and the US are locked in a food fight over TTIP
It is not certain whether TTIP will relent and grant European food products even the limited protection they have under CETA
Malaysia-Pakistan trade set to improve this year
Malaysia-Pakistan tradeis expected to improve this year with the revival of Malaysia-Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (MPCEPA)