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Statement of Thai Youth Against FTA
19-Oct-2009 ASEAN Youth Movement
“We demand the rights of the people, who are oppressed by the global trade war and join them in a fight for a more just society that consists of an economic system made up of fair trade, diverse socio-cultures, food sovereignty, human rights and a sustainable environment”
Sri Lanka pressed by USTR on IP protection, GM food
19-Oct-2009 Lanka Business
The United States has asked Sri Lanka, ranked high for software piracy in Asia, to better enforce intellectual property rights and also lift restrictions on American imports like genetically modified food.
Sri Lanka may lose clothes trade benefits for alleged human rights abuses
19-Oct-2009 ANI
The European Commission is all set to recommend withdrawal of trade benefits from Sri Lanka after allegations of large scale violation of human rights surfaced during the last stages of the civil war against the LTTE.
ECFA won’t bring laborers: premier
19-Oct-2009 Taipei Times
Premier Wu Den-yih said yesterday that the government would not open the Taiwanese market further to Chinese agricultural products and would not allow the entry of Chinese laborers under the proposed cross-straits FTA, while avoiding questions about how long the bans would be in place.
Syria asks to delay signing of EU partnership agreement
19-Oct-2009 Monsters and Critics
Syria on Sunday asked to postpone the signing of an economic partnership agreement with the European Union, following disputes over provisions covering human-rights and political reform.
Chile asks for revision of FTA
19-Oct-2009 Chosun Ilbo
Chile has asked for a revision of the Korea-Chile free trade agreement, the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Sunday. Chile wants Korea to open its agricultural market wider.
Asia-Pacific businesses losing interest in Doha
19-Oct-2009 Business World
Businesses are becoming less interested in the World Trade Organization’s attempts to forge a global deal as long-standing talks have yet to yield results, a private sector group affiliated with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation warned late last week.
EU trade talks stuck on butter
19-Oct-2009 Globe & Mail
As 200 officials from Europe and Canada gather in an Ottawa meeting room Monday to begin the most comprehensive trade talks in Canadian history, there is great fear on both sides that the whole thing could become bogged down over the price of butter.
EU-India’s free trade deal is still in the talking stage
19-Oct-2009 New Europe
Two years after the European Union and India began negotiating a Free Trade Agreement that has enemies in both places, the talks are continuing with the hope of concluding by the end of the year, but not in time for the EU-India Summit in New Delhi on Nov. 6.
Pakistan and EU to explore possibility of FTA: talks begin on October 20
18-Oct-2009 Business Recorder
Islamabad and the 27-member European Union will start negotiations on a possible free trade agreement, an unfulfilled dream of Pakistan, with a meeting on 20 October.
ALBA strengthens trade alliance, ratifies struggle against the “empire”
18-Oct-2009 LAHT
The 7th Summit of the ALBA approved new steps for strengthening its model of “just and complementary trade” and ratified its struggle against “threats from the empire”
Chavez-led bloc plans to create agriculture, mining businesses
18-Oct-2009 Bloomberg
The Alba trade bloc, led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, agreed to create regional mining and agriculture businesses as the group concluded a second day of talks in Bolivia.
US aims for bilateral climate change deals with China and India
17-Oct-2009 Guardian
Many observers say such bilateral deals risk seriously weakening any Copenhagen agreement by allowing the idea of a global limit on greenhouse gas emissions to be abandoned.
Pakistan: EU’s dilemma
17-Oct-2009 Dawn
Pakistan’s repeated requests for a free trade agreement come at the right time: the EU has switched focus from the uphill struggle to conclude the Doha trade round of World Trade Organisation negotiations to a quest for bilateral pacts.
EU grabs Korea trade pact that was ours
17-Oct-2009 Investors.com
"For Europe, the deal with Korea was easy. The US had already negotiated a trade pact of its own that was ready to go in 2006. Details of the EU-Korea treaty are nearly identical, so it’s obvious the Europeans just Xeroxed the US-Korea pact and will now walk off with the spoils," write a US business journal.
Spain urges Namibia to join EU party
16-Oct-2009 Informante
The European Union, through its Spanish chair, has made an impassionate plea for Namibia to sign the interim Economic Partnership Agreement saying this will accelerate the country’s economic growth.
Zambia: Economic Partnership Agreements - for the rich or poor?
16-Oct-2009 Times of Zambia
The signing ceremony of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the East and Southern Africa Bloc to which Zambia belongs, raised some eyebrows, but also drew attention to something deeper when Zambia and other members refused to sign.
S.Africa sugar producers hopeful of EU trade deal
16-Oct-2009 Reuters
Durban-based Illovo Sugar — Africa’s biggest producer, majority-owned by British Sugar — said it plans to raise output by 50 percent to nearly 3 million tonnes in the next five years to cash in on the new tariff-free EU access.
Taiwan hopes to sign cross-strait trade pact as soon as possible
16-Oct-2009 Taiwan News
Taiwan hopes to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), similar to a free trade agreement, with China as soon as possible: next year, if not earlier.
EU-Korea trade deal puts pressure on Obama to act
16-Oct-2009 Reuters
President Barack Obama faced increased pressure on Thursday to win approval of a free trade deal with South Korea after the European Union locked up its own pact with Asia’s third-largest market.