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US asks India to step up investment treaty talks
2-Nov-2015 Smart Investor
The US government has again pushed India to expedite negotiations on the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
TPP fishery impact to be ‘limited,’ for now: farm ministry
2-Nov-2015 The Japan Times
The impact on fishery products from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is likely to be “limited,” although tariffs are set to be axed for most of the 300 or so items listed in the free trade pact.
Ecuador says talking to Occidental to resolve oil assets seizure
2-Nov-2015 Reuters
Ecuador is in talks with Occidental Petroleum Corp to seek an agreement over a roughly $1.77 billion award the Andean country was ordered to pay for seizing the U.S.-based company’s assets in 2006
Documents suggest Europe sees future Caribbean ties within ambit of CELAC
2-Nov-2015 Stabroek News
If for the Caribbean the future relationship with EU is to be less about trade and development and more about a political dialogue, new thinking and a fundamental re-assessment of the balance in external relations is required.
Privacy and ISDS after Safe Harbour invalidation: Singapore FTA
2-Nov-2015 Vrijschrift Blog
The Court of Justice of the EU should assess whether the trade agreement with Singapore is compatible with the EU Treaties and Charter of fundamental rights before it enters into force.
New Zealand open to ditching old ISDS model under NZ - EU trade deal
30-Oct-2015 NZ Herald
New Zealand has an open mind about replacing traditional investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) with a new international court-based system proposed by the European Union.
U.S. wary of EU proposal for investment court in trade pact
30-Oct-2015 Reuters
The United States is wary of a European Union proposal for a new court system to settle investment disputes as part of the world’s biggest free-trade agreement
Joseph Stiglitz: under TPP, polluters could sue U.S. for setting carbon emissions limits
30-Oct-2015 Democracy Now
The basic point is that TPP is a trade agreement that has all kinds of provisions intended to restrict regulations.
Massive Indonesian plantation fires create environmental catastrophe spewing haze & carbon emissions
30-Oct-2015 Democracy Now
"By Indonesia joining the TPP, which the U.S. was urging them to do, Indonesia will be losing much of the capacity they would need to regulate the corporations"
EU-Southern Africa trade deal to be signed in Botswana in May
30-Oct-2015 Bloomberg
The European Union and five Southern African Development Community states will meet in Botswana in May to sign a trade deal that has taken at least 10 years to complete.
EU-SADC EPA (2015)
30-Oct-2015
Text agreed to July 2014, the tariffs in October 2015, to be signed May 2016.
Indonesia will join Trans-Pacific Partnership, Jokowi tells Obama
30-Oct-2015 The Guardian
Barack Obama has won Indonesia’s endorsement for a contentious trans-Pacific trade deal, with the country’s president promising to join. President Joko Widodo declares after White House meeting that he will sign up to TPP – but risks provoking anger among protectionists at home.
Here’s why Indonesia joining the TPP is easier said than done
29-Oct-2015 Today Online
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Indonesia intends to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership but there are obstacles to implementation in a country where economic nationalism runs deep.
U.S. trade czar says Britain would lose on trade outside the EU
29-Oct-2015 Reuters
The United States is not keen on pursuing a separate free trade deal with Britain if it leaves the European Union
The TTIP of the spear
29-Oct-2015 The Economist
Selling Europe’s trade agreement with America as “strategic” has problems
Shallow justifications for TPPA
28-Oct-2015
Catherine Beard claims there is no problem with the ability of corporations to sue the New Zealand government in offshore tribunals for loss of profits under the TPPA. She bases this on "commissioned research" from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER).
The GNWT’s dangerous affair with China
28-Oct-2015 Edge
Why FIPA makes the territorial government’s hot pursuit of trade with this superpower toxic for the North.
Is investor-state dispute settlement legal? A plea for EU judges to check
28-Oct-2015 Client Earth
We have severe doubts that ISDS is compatible with EU law, as we show in our new study.
International trade: UN expert calls for abolition of Investor-State dispute settlement arbitrations
28-Oct-2015 OHCHR
Trade must be made to work for human rights and development and not against them,” the United Nations Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas, has said
India must resist US pressure on generic drugs, African leaders to tell Modi
28-Oct-2015 The Wire
So far, the NDA government has been a mute spectator to the US pharma strategy of forcing Indian generics manufacturers to produce only what is required for Indian consumers and abandon the export of cheap drugs to Africa