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Conditional approval of RP-Japan deal proposed
1-Feb-2008 Conditional approval of RP-Japan deal proposed
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday said she will propose a “conditional” Senate approval of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), pointing out that the wide-ranging free trade deal needed to be amended or else be rejected by the Supreme Court for being in conflict with the Constitution.
Mexican farmers stage protest over US imports
1-Feb-2008 Reuters
Thousands of Mexican farmers, some herding cows, flooded into the capital on Thursday and set a tractor on fire to demand government protection against cheap US farm imports under NAFTA.
El Salvador: Benefits of free trade deal still remote
1-Feb-2008 Upside Down World
The Salvadoran government had proclaimed that from the moment of its entry into force, the free trade agreement with the United States would boost the local economy, creating thousands of jobs, so that even street vendors would be exporting their typical snacks. But nearly two years later, the economic paradise has yet to arrive.
Interview: US to push free trade in Middle East
31-Jan-2008 Al Bawaba
Carlos M. Gutierrez, the influential and persuasive US Secretary of Commerce plans to use a keynote business conference in Jordan to press home the ambition of the Bush administration to see the establishment of a regional US-Middle East Free Trade Area by the deadline of 2013.
Food sovereignty and free-trade agreements
31-Jan-2008 Via Campesina
From 11th to 13th January 2008, 21 delegates and members of Via Campesina, from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, South Korea, Norway, France, Haiti, Mali, Italy, the United States, Mozambique, Turkey, the Basque Country and Nepal, met in Dijon for a strategic seminar on the theme “Food Sovereignty and Free-Trade Agreements” convened and organised by the Via Campesina’s Food Sovereignty work committee.
Malawi: Caught between two economic blocs
31-Jan-2008 IPS
Malawi finally has to face up to the dilemma of choosing between being a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or to stick with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) if it is to continue receiving funding from the European Union.
Sri Lanka negotiates more trade, investment deals
31-Jan-2008 Lanka Business Online
Sri Lanka is negotiating more free trade and investment deals with other countries to increase trade and foreign investment. Two rounds of talks were held in January with India and Pakistan on free trade and investment agreements while the first negotiations on an investment promotion and protection agreement with Kuwait was concluded on January 30. The Sri Lanka-Kuwait negotiations will be followed by negotiations on a Sri Lanka-Jordan Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement
Thailand: Private sector urges revival of FTA talks
31-Jan-2008 Bangkok Post
Thai business leaders are urging the new government to press forward with bilateral free trade negotiations with the United States, aiming to receive more preferential treatment than rival countries.
Panellists see high impact of bilateral trade deals on Geneva policymaking
30-Jan-2008 IP Watch
A panel of government and non-governmental experts on intellectual property and biodiversity issues last week stressed the high impact that leading economies’ bilateral free trade negotiations are having on multilateral policymaking in Geneva.
Stop ratification process of US-Korea FTA bill!
30-Jan-2008
The South Korean government is attempting to pass the Korea-US FTA bill in an extraordinary national assembly session starting 28 January and lasting one month
No to corporate Europe - Yes to global justice!
30-Jan-2008 OWINFS
Statement from Seattle to Brussels Network calling for joint strategies to halt current negotiations seeking to implement “Free” Trade Agreements (FTAs) between Europe and the rest of the world; and consolidating the struggles against European transnational corporations, and deepening the process of constructing alternatives, to reclaim the right to food, education, health and other basic services.
Japanese pastors learn shocking things about Davao bananas
29-Jan-2008 Davao Today
Japanese pastors joined the calls echoed by the National Churches of the Philippines to reject the controversial Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA)
Costa Rica to ask for US trade delay
29-Jan-2008 AP
President Oscar Arias said Tuesday he will ask the US to delay implementation of a free-trade agreement to give the country time to pass several necessary local laws.
Group seeks JPEPA renegotiation
29-Jan-2008 Group seeks JPEPA renegotiation
Former Senator Wigberto Tañada, lead convenor of the multi-sectoral Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade), is hoping that Senator Mar Roxas, who is now proposing the full ratification of JPEPA, will still change his mind.
S. Korea, EU spar over ’rules of origin’
29-Jan-2008 Korea Times
Under EU-suggested rules, a product would be considered as coming from a trading partner only when at least 60 percent of the value of the finished item is added in that country. South Korean negotiators want the ratio to be lowered to 40 percent, as a number of manufacturers in the country outsource many components from neighboring countries such as China to cut costs.
Strange turnaround on JPEPA
28-Jan-2008 Strange turnaround on JPEPA
Here’s Malaya columnist Nestor Mata’s take on the sudden turnaround of Sen. Mar Roxas on JPEPA.
Tañada’s group urges Roxas to withdraw support for JPEPA
28-Jan-2008 Tañada’s group urges Roxas to withdraw support for JPEPA
Fair trade advocates chided Senator Mar Roxas II on Tuesday for supporting the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement even as they renewed calls for renegotiation of the treaty.
FIDH writes an open letter to African Union Heads of State and Government 10th African Union Summit
28-Jan-2008 Modern Ghana
the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) emphasizes that there are particular dangers associated with the negotiation of trade and investment agreements in a regional or bilateral context, which may not exist, or may not exist to the same extent, in the multilateral framework of the WTO.
NAFTA awakens the ghost of Pancho Villa
27-Jan-2008 Newspaper Tree
Convened two years before the 100th anniversary of the 1910 Mexican Revolution and the 200th anniversary of the 1810 War for Independence, Mexico’s latest farmer protest is now gathering force with strong historical and political overtones. Farmers intend to follow the same route that Pancho Villa took on his 1914 march into Mexico City, and on which an anti-NAFTA protest was conducted by protestors on horseback in 1999
Nepal trade policy dilemma: Experts stress benefits of bilateralism
27-Jan-2008
The Nepalese government still seems to be unclear about its priority on trade. Policy makers and senior government officials appear to be bugged down in the morass of confusion as to whether would it be appropriate to go for bilateralism or regionalism or multilateralism.