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Korea halts clearance of US beef
3-Aug-2007 Chosun Ilbo
Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on Wednesday suspended quarantine inspections of all US beef imports after again finding banned vertebral bones in a shipment
EC backs down on Pacific aid conditionality threat
3-Aug-2007
The EC’s Head of Delegation to the Pacific has sent to the Pacific EPA negotiating team a letter dated Friday 3 August that states Pacific Trade Ministers have misinterpreted an earlier EC communication and there is no conditionality that would reduce the EDF funds available to the Pacific if the region does not sign an EPA.
Pacific free trade idea is misguided
3-Aug-2007 The National
A free trade agreement covering the Pacific region is unlikely to be worth the paper it is written on as far as Papua New Guinea is concerned.
Morocco invites Pakistan to export textiles under FTA
3-Aug-2007 Daily Times
Pakistani entrepreneurs should take advantage of Morocco’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with USA and European Union, particularly in the textile and readymade garments, Morocco Ambassador Mohammed Rida El Fassi said.
Private sector urges restraint in signing EPA agreement
3-Aug-2007 Vanguard
Nigerian captains of commerce and industry have warned that the proposed trade agreements are not in the best interest of the growth of industry in the country.
African nations to sign parts of EU trade deal
2-Aug-2007 Reuters
The European Union and east African countries thrashing out a new but contentious trade deal will sign parts of it by a Dec. 31 deadline even if all is not ready by then, a Kenyan trade official said on Wednesday.
The Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA): Surrendering sovereignty and development
2-Aug-2007 IBON
JPEPA is undoubtedly beneficial — for big Japanese corporations and elite corporate interests in the Philippines, not for the Filipino people.
Pacific trade ministers protest EC aid threat in EPA talks
2-Aug-2007
Pacific Trade Ministers have responded to a threat by the EC to cut development aid funds to the region if the Pacific does not conclude the EPA by the end of the year. In a strongly worded letter to the EC Commissioner for Development, they stated they would “not accept the EC imposing this linkage on the RIP with respect to the EPA.”
EC threatens to withhold aid funds over EPA
2-Aug-2007
Just before the Pacific ACP Trade Ministers Meeting opened in Vanuatu on 31 July 2007, the Deputy Head of the Pacific desk in the EC’s DG Development sent the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat an email that stated the Pacific’s allocation of the European Development Fund would be cut by 48% if it does not sign up to an EPA and by 26% if a goods-only agreement is concluded.
Chilean legislature approves free trade agreement with Japan
2-Aug-2007 Servihoo
The Chilean legislature late Tuesday approved a free trade agreement with Japan that will likely be signed into law when President Michelle Bachelet’s visits Tokyo in September.
Arroyo trade-pact pitch with Japan nixed
1-Aug-2007 Inquirer
Independent think-tank group IBON Foundation scoffed at President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s call for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to conclude a regional free-trade agreement with Japan despite strong protests against the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
Beware Europeans bearing gifts
1-Aug-2007 WNSC
After the emerging disaster of CAFTA, Central American countries recently launched into a new round of trade negotiations, this time with the European Union.
Shut down the NZ-US Partnership Forum, Sept. 7-11
1-Aug-2007 Infoshop News
Between the 9th and 11th of September, 2007, Auckland will host the second annual "United States-New Zealand Partnership Forum". We intend to protest and if possible shut down this forum and disrupt the related activities and events.
’EPA is terrorism act’
1-Aug-2007 GBF
The EU is doing almost everything possible, both legally and illegally, to get the EPA signed, according to Kwabena Okai Ofosuhene of the Abibimman Foundation in Ghana. “It is very unfortunate and sad that there are key elements within the ECOWAS Commission who are working secretly to enable the EU achieve this.”
Pacific Forum admits problems sealing a Economic Partnership Agreement
1-Aug-2007 Radio Fiji
The Pacific Forum has for the first time publicly admitted there have been problems in sealing an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
Mexico in Mercosur ’essential’
1-Aug-2007 Buenos Aires Herald
Mexico’s entry to Mercosur is “essential,” President Néstor Kirchner insisted yesterday after a meeting with his Mexican peer Felipe Calderón in Mexico City.
Multilateral still better than bilateral talks
1-Aug-2007 IPS
"When we try to negotiate as individual countries, we give the Europeans the ammunition to divide and discriminate against us", said Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity Bright Matonga.
Mauritius, Pakistan to create free trade zone
1-Aug-2007 Afrique en ligne
Mauritius and Pakistan have announced plans to create a free trade zone between the two countries by 2009 and have preferential trade exchanges by 30 November.
The end of the age of free trade
1-Aug-2007 Voltaire.net
The Russian government presented three days ago a draft law stipulating that selling the shares of any strategic company to foreign investors is prohibited unless it is approved by a special governmental committee headed by the Prime Minister.
China to seal FTA with ASEAN before signing one with Singapore
1-Aug-2007 Channel News Asia
China will likely conclude the free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN first before sealing a similar deal with Singapore, said Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, Zhang Xiaokang.