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Rachid strikes trade deal with Turkey
5-Jan-2006
A high-powered Turkish delegation, headed by President Ahmed Necdet Sezer, arrived in Cairo last month to sign a free-trade deal with Egypt in what an editorial in the Turkish Daily News said could be a “turning point in relations between two regional powers.”
Chian Mai meeting: 10,000 expected to protests US free-trade talks
5-Jan-2006
Farm workers, HIV/Aids, poverty NGOs vow to disrupt event. The sixth round of free-trade talks with the United States next week in Chiang Mai will face the wrath about 10,000 protesters from 12 special-interest groups which have vowed to rally throughout the five-day meeting.
Ministry decries failure to benefit from trade pacts
5-Jan-2006
RELEGATION of the trade ministry to peripheral roles in anticipation that the private sector will drive development has made Uganda fail to benefit from regional and bilateral trade associations.
Bilateral trade deals to end, predicts expert
5-Jan-2006
Country-specific trade agreements might finally give way to an integrated trade agreement or organisation, indicated Abdul Quader Shaikh, Senior Economist, United States (US) Department of Commerce at a seminar on the WTO today.
Done like a dinner on free trade deal
5-Jan-2006
TO laugh or to cry? That is the question. Do you laugh at the increasingly ludicrous attempts by defenders of the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement to explain away the results of the FTA’s operation since it came into effect on January 1 last year?
FTA ’a dud deal’
5-Jan-2006
There are calls today for Australia to scrap the free trade agreement.
Civic groups to protest at Thai-US FTA meeting in Chiang Mai
5-Jan-2006
Eleven civic groups plan demonstrations at the venue where the Thai and US governments will hold the sixth round of FTA negotiation next week, their leaders said Thursday.
Pakistan, US to hold final round of BIT talks
5-Jan-2006 Khaleej Times
A high powered US delegation is arriving here on 18 of this month to hold talks with the Pakistani authorities to finalise the BIT, in the absence of which, Washington was unprepared to sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Pakistan.
US sugar farmers say they will strongy oppose any changes to the FTA
5-Jan-2006 ABC
The US Sugar Alliance, representing cane and beet farmers, says it will lobby strongly against any further opening of the US market to Australian sugar. Meantime, there are calls today for Australia to scrap the free trade agreement.
GCC-India FTA talks give fillip to ‘Asian Community’
5-Jan-2006 Arab News
The regional economic diversification plan gets a boost with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and India - which signed a framework agreement for economic cooperation in August 2004 - announcing final negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) starting January 2006 to thrash out niggling issues like rules of origin and differential tariffs.
Thai-US FTA talks: Deadlock looks set to be broken
5-Jan-2006 The Nation
Thai finance officials will for the first time make an offer to open up the country’s financial services, which should make or break the proposed Thai-US free-trade agreement (FTA) during talks next week, says a Thai finance source.
Japan urges Philippines to restart EPA talks
5-Jan-2006 Asia Times
Japan has urged the Philippines to restart talks on the stalled negotiations of the bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) so they can conclude all negotiations within the month. The Philippines has remained non-committal until a case filed by civic groups with the Supreme Court, seeking a temporary restraining order to bar the Philippine government from concluding the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Japan, is resolved.
Senate confirms Richard Crowder as USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator
5-Jan-2006 Seed Today
Crowder has been president and CEO of the American Seed Trade Association since 2002. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, International, of DEKALB Genetics Corporation — now part of Monsanto — a worldwide leader in agricultural genetics and seed biotechnology.
Vaile to fight US on sugar
5-Jan-2006 The Australian
Australia will urge the US to prise open its lucrative sugar markets as part of a fresh push to improve access for farmers under the free trade deal. The Howard Government’s renewed attempt to secure a better deal from the free trade agreement came as Acting Prime Minister Mark Vaile defended lopsided results from the first year of the pact.
United States the FTA winner one year on
4-Jan-2006
The government has blamed a stronger currency and increased competition from Asia for a disappointing first year in Australia’s new trade pact with the United States.
Exports plummet in post-FTA trade
4-Jan-2006 ABC
Government figures show Australian exports to the US have fallen since the US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into force a year ago. In the 12 months to October last year, Australian exports to the United States fell by 4.7 per cent while US imports rose by 5.7 per cent.
Drug companies pressure Govt to review FTA
4-Jan-2006 ABC
The debate over the cost of medicines in Australia took a new twist today, with Acting Prime Minister Mark Vaile declaring the Government will have a second look at provisions within the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. They’re provisions that were specifically designed to keep the cost of pharmaceuticals down.
NFF backs FTA despite export figures
4-Jan-2006 ABC
The National Farmers Federation (NFF) is still backing the Australia-US free trade agreement, despite poor terms of trade in its first year of operation.
Denounce chaos in prices
4-Jan-2006 Dominican Today
National Merchants and Entrepreneurs Federation president Antonio Cruz assured today that there is generalized disarray throughout the Dominican Republic with initial implementation of the tax reform, and requested the government to reconsider enforcing it as of next July when CAFTA comes into effect.
Guatemala to strengthen Mercosur ties
4-Jan-2006 AP
Guatemala’s government - annoyed by the delay in CAFTA’s implementation and the U.S. House of Representative’s approval of a wall to keep out illegal immigrants - announced Tuesday it would seek to strengthen its relations with the Mercosur trading bloc.