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21-Aug-2008
GRAIN
The EU is currently negotiating FTAs with Central America, the Andean Community of Nations and Mercosur. Its objective is to use these agreements to complete the privatisation process, to remove restrictions on European property and activity in the region, to acquire full access to natural resources and to obtain guarantees that European companies will be able to operate with clear advantages over national companies. Moreover, all these concessions granted to European companies are to be protected from any political changes that the peoples of the region might want to undertake in the future.
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21-Aug-2008
Manila Standard
Philippine senators have suspended debates on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement pending a clarification by the Foreign Affairs and Trade departments as well as the Japanese government on the status of a side agreement that will address constitutional issues raised by lawmakers.
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21-Aug-2008
Canberra Times
One juicy Australian-grown aid patty, some aromatic seasonal labour sauce all held together within the iron clad guarantee of two trade liberalising pieces of white bread and a smattering of forest carbon partnership-flavoured fries. What financially famished island state could resist?
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21-Aug-2008
Zawya
Gulf oil producers have criticised the European Union (EU) for delaying the signing of a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) that could support their long-standing bid to diversify their oil-reliant economies.
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20-Aug-2008
IHT
The German government on Wednesday approved a law that would allow it to block moves by foreign investors to take large stakes in German companies, if it concludes that they endanger the country’s interests.
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20-Aug-2008
Mr. Gyekye Tanoh, an official of the Third World Network (TWN), a civil society organization, on Wednesday blamed delays in the Economic Partnership Agreements process on the European Union (EU) saying they were manipulating the negotiation process to suit them.
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20-Aug-2008
The launch of the Sadc Free Trade Area is a momentous occasion for the region as it makes further strides towards regional integration.
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20-Aug-2008
LaRRI
It will be critical in the coming months to mobilise resistance to the implementation of the Interim EPA in its current format and thereby strengthen the Namibian Government’s hand not to sign a final EPA with the EU. Namibia should also link up with African and international campaigns against EPAs, which have emerged in the past few years. The battle is not lost but there is little time left to prevent EPAs from becoming a new and powerful tool to promote EU interests at the expense of Africa’s development needs. A new publication from the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI).
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20-Aug-2008
Pacific NGOs, churches and trade unions working on trade justice issues are concerned about the push for free trade agreements in the Pacific and the grave risk that these agreements pose for our people.
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20-Aug-2008
Radio Fiji
Pacific NGOs, churches and unions have released a joint statement on trade justice in the Pacific warning of the costs of a free trade deal with Australia and NZ, and urging Pacific leaders to be wary that a new seasonal workers’ scheme could be used as a bargaining chip to enter free trade negotiations.
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20-Aug-2008
Mondaq
The AC-FTA represents a new generation of Free Trade Agreements and establishes a broad level of market access. Australian companies are certain to benefit,
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20-Aug-2008
Radio Jamaica
St Lucia’s Prime Minister, Stephenson King says his country wants concerns addressed about the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) the region has negotiated with the European Union.
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20-Aug-2008
Mizzima
India and ASEAN have announced that talks on services and investment are set to commence next month ahead of a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) to be signed later this year. This latest step in deepening regional economic integration is further evidence of an ever expanding matrix of competing regional economic interests, which Burma finds itself at the heart of.
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20-Aug-2008
IPS
Since Aug. 9, indigenous demonstrators have been demanding the repeal of two decree laws that promote private investment in their territory, and the reestablishment of a clause from the 1979 constitution — which was replaced by the new constitution in 1993 — which stated that communally owned land in indigenous territory could not be sold or embargoed. The decree laws were approved by the executive branch under special powers granted by the legislature for the implementation of the free trade agreement signed with the United States.
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19-Aug-2008
Nowadays the problem of diversification of energy supplies is extremely important for the European Union. The EU becomes more and more dependent on imported energy resources and, as a consequence, on a few suppliers, mainly Russia and the countries of the Middle East. The latter cannot be considered as a secure source because of instability and unpredictability of the situation in the region. The energy conflict between Russia and Ukraine in winter 2005-2006 produced fears that the former (...)
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19-Aug-2008
Bangkok Post
The free trade agreement between Thailand and South Korea will be submitted for cabinet approval today, paving the way for the two countries to officially sign the pact at the Asean economic ministers’ meeting scheduled for Aug 25-27 in Singapore.
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19-Aug-2008
IPS
Southern African non-governmental organisations have put forward demands to their governments in resistance to the continuing talks on economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.
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19-Aug-2008
Gulfnews
How important is the trade agreement for GCC? And who will benefit more: EU or GCC?
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19-Aug-2008
SABC News
Economists have warned of economic pain and even job losses in the short-term because of the historic Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in Johannesburg yesterday.
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18-Aug-2008
AP
South Korean police arrested nearly 160 people at a rally in Seoul Friday night opposing the resumption of US beef imports. It was Korean activists’ 100th major demonstration against the beef deal.
