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India wants trade deal by end of next year
21-May-2008
Australia and India should aim to complete a free trade agreement by the end of next year, says India’s influential Commerce and Industry Minister, Kamal Nath.
EU urges India to offer more in bilateral trade talks
21-May-2008
The European Commission called on India on Tuesday to go further with its plans to open up its economy to European exports under a planned bilateral trade deal between the two trade powers.
Comesa ministers root for common policy
21-May-2008
Comesa trade ministers are rooting for a crash programme to harmonise intra-regional policies before the December 2008 deadline of signing a joint Customs Union (CU).
The EPA conundrum
21-May-2008
There are strident calls for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), due to be signed by Cariforum in July, to be amended, varied or simply not signed. Any possible renegotiation of the treaty, it is acknowledged, might come at a potentially intolerable cost.
Whither regional integration?
21-May-2008
As a result of the free trade agreements with the European Union, called economic partnership agreements, regional integration in Southern Africa is in tatters. The question arises: what kind of integration would engender broad-based development?
People’s Summit: Linking Alternatives III declaration
21-May-2008 Radio Mundo Real
We reject the project of Association Agreements proposed by the European Union and backed by diverse Latin American and Caribbean governments which only aim to deepen and perpetuate the current system of domination which has caused so much harm to our peoples.
Venezuela proposes food crisis fund at controversial trans-Atlantic summit
21-May-2008 Venezuela Analysis
Of primary emphasis at the summit were the EU’s trade deals, termed “association accords,” with South America’s Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and the southern free trade block MERCOSUR.
Nigeria: Country to lose $478.4 million revenue to EPA
21-May-2008 Afrika News Update
The country will lose an average of $478.4 million revenue in 2008 if it implements the degree of import liberalization as demanded by the Europeans through the Economic Partnership Agreement, EPA, a top official of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Chibuzo Nwoke has warned.
Europe aims to build links with Mediterranean neighbors
21-May-2008
A new body should reinvigorate the proposal for a Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone by 2010, a new European Commission document says.
Malaysia urges US to drop contentious issues from free trade talks
21-May-2008 IHT
Malaysia urged the United States on Wednesday to drop contentious issues from their free trade talks so that a deal can be forged.
Partisan strife continues over FTA, US beef
21-May-2008 Yonhap
Political tension over Seoul’s controversial trade pacts with Washington heightened on Wednesday, just three days before the last session of the outgoing parliament is scheduled to close.
EU-Central America FTA (draft, 2008)
21-May-2008
Don’t be rushed into trade deal with EU, think-tank warns
21-May-2008
Independent think-tank IBON Foundation said that the Philippine government should not rush into negotiations for a partnership cooperation agreement with the European Union.
EU gives cautious welcome to India’s free trade proposals
21-May-2008 Khaleej Times
India has delivered "useful" proposals for a free trade agreement with Europe but a lot of work remains to be done, a European Commission spokesman said Tuesday.
India, Brunei to sign bilateral investment agreement
20-May-2008 IRIS
India and Brunei Darussalam will be signing an agreement on bilateral investment and protection and three other MoUs in different areas to further strengthen their bilateral cooperation.
Food crisis key to trade talks with Japanese
19-May-2008 NZ Herald
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark believes the impact of the international food crisis is the key reason why the Japanese Government has agreed to a ground-breaking study on the benefits of a bilateral free trade agreement.
S Korea, US continue consultations on beef: envoy
19-May-2008 Yonhap
South Korea and the United States are continuing consultations on the controversial issue of beef trade, with public protests here over a related deal showing no signs of abating, the top U.S. envoy here said Monday.
Korea to get quarantine sovereignty over US beef
19-May-2008 Korea Times
South Korean negotiators have won a new concession from US officials regarding the American beef import agreement, with the new clause giving Seoul "quarantine and inspection sovereignty," government sources said Monday.
Ageing Japan to get first foreign nurses - report
19-May-2008 Reuters
Japan is set to accept nurses and elderly-care workers from Indonesia, possibly as soon as July, the financial daily Nikkei said on Friday, as the country struggles to care for its rapidly growing ranks of old people.
The Commission seeks greater power for European companies’ investing abroad
19-May-2008 Baltic Course
The European Commission is seeking to take more power in regulating deals for the European companies working abroad; first of all in deals concerning protection of investments abroad, a role traditionally undertaken by the EU’s member states in their trade outside the Union-block. Hence, the EU common commercial policy rules might extend to investments, as well.