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Investor corruption, bilateral investment treaties and international arbitration: Bribery at centre of failed investor claim
2-Feb-2014 Fraud Intelligence
By losing its rights under a bilateral investment treaty against a sovereign due to corruptly securing its investment, Metal-Tech marks a seemingly growing trend of bribery playing a critical role in international investment arbitration disputes.
Fast track trade in the US hits difficulties
1-Feb-2014 Reuters Analysis: White House hopes for fast-track trade hit political tangle
President Obama’s hopes that the Fast Track mechanism would go through congress have met opposition from leading Congress Democrat, Harry Reid.
European Commission announces composition of TTIP expert group
1-Feb-2014 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-79_en.htm
Last Monday the Commission launched a special Advisory Group of experts representing a broad range of interests, from environmental, health, consumer and workers’ interests to different business sectors to provide EU trade negotiators with high quality advice in the areas being negotiated in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks.
Interview: Dutch expert says TTIP might be game changer for geopolitics
31-Jan-2014 Xinhua
Peter van Ham, senior research fellow at the Dutch Clingendael Institute, thinks that TTIP could have an overwhelming standard-setting power for other countries.
John Kinsman: Why we should oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership
31-Jan-2014 PR Watch
John Kinsman, the author of this op-ed first published in The Capital Times in 2012, passed away on January 20, 2014. He was a leader of the global food sovereignty movement who many of us knew.
Environmental scientists join anti-TTIP tirade
31-Jan-2014 Chemical Watch
The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could spell an increase in lawsuits against governments which would not only discourage enforcement of existing environmental regulations, but also diminish the role of environmental scientists, predicts an academic opinion piece.
NAFTA & environmental laws: Ethyl Corp. v. Government of Canada
30-Jan-2014 Global Policy Forum
Chemical firm uses trade pact to contest Environmental Law
Harry Reid deals body blow to Obama on trade
30-Jan-2014 WSJ
US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke publicly with the White House Wednesday on trade policy, instantly imperiling two major international trade deals and punching a hole in one piece of the economic agenda the president outlined in his State of the Union address a day earlier.
Protests across North America aim to block ’NAFTA on steroids’
30-Jan-2014 Labor Notes
PHL-EU free-trade pact ‘catastrophic’ for 1.8 million Filipino fishermen–group
30-Jan-2014 Business Mirror
The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday warned the Aquino administration against entering into a bilateral free trade agreement with the European Union, saying the forging of such an agreement will lead to the flooding of imported fish from EU member-states.
Philippines launches last-minute bid to join new Asia-Pacific FTA
29-Jan-2014
Officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will hold talks with their US counterparts within the next two months in a last-minute bid to join discussions for a free-trade area (FTA) in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mantega insists that the Mercosur/EU trade agreement includes Argentina
28-Jan-2014
Mercosur is preparing for trade negotiations with the European Union and they include Argentina, said on Friday Brazilian finance minister. The comment seems to contradict other recent statements which said the trade deal with the EU will go forward with or without a reluctant Argentina.
SACU: Dead man walking?
28-Jan-2014 Trade Beat
Late last year, the African cyberspace was buzzing with rumours that the region’s oldest trade agreement, the Southern African Customs Union or SACU was about to be finally killed off by South Africa. From Windhoek to Cape Town to Mbabane, trade policy wonks were debating what the most recent moves from Pretoria regarding SACU really meant.
EU-US FTA (TTIP) - Financial services (EU negotiating objectives)
28-Jan-2014 DG Trade
Brussels wants finance rules back in US trade pact
28-Jan-2014 FT
The EU is seeking to include financial regulation in a sweeping trade pact with the US, arguing that leaving it out of any deal would represent a threat to global financial stability.
CETA access denied – Federal government refuses to disclose working text of Canada-EU deal
28-Jan-2014 Council of Canadians
The federal government of Canada has denied an access to information request from the Council of Canadians for the working text of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Talks on free trade agreement among CU and EFTA countries held in Astana
28-Jan-2014 Trend
Negotiations on concluding a free trade agreement among the member-states of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and the countries of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) are under way.
Japan and Australia nearing FTA deal: Reports
28-Jan-2014 AFP
Japan and Australia are moving closer to signing a free trade agreement, officials said Tuesday amid reports the deal will be inked within months.
TTIP: European Commission publishes EU negotiating position on financial services
28-Jan-2014 DG Trade
The European Commission publishes today a non-paper clarifying its objectives for financial services in the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
China’s top diplomat wants free-trade deal with Europe
27-Jan-2014
Beijing’s top diplomat called on Monday for China and the European Union to consider a multi-billion-dollar free-trade deal, a once unthinkable step that shows a big improvement in relations between two of the world’s largest markets.