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14-Nov-2007
Palace warned: Renegotiate Jpepa or face rejection
RENEGOTIATE the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) now, rather than suffer the embarrassment of an impending defeat in the eyes of the public when the senators vote for its rejection.
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14-Nov-2007
Group urges JPEPA renegotiation
As the Senate winds up its hearings on the Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, the multi-sectoral Fair Trade Alliance has urged the government to initiate for renegotiation of the comprehensive trade deal even before the Senate vote to ratify or reject the controversial trade agreement.
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14-Nov-2007
FairTrade to Senate: Renego still the best option for JPEPA
As the Senate goes on with final stage of consultation hearings with government negotiators, domestic industrial and agricultural producers, and the civil society groups, the multisectoral Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade) strongly urges the Senate to inexorably decide for the interest of the nation by concluding to renegotiate JPEPA, as this is the only viable solution to cure the inherent imbalances of this treaty and become acceptable to Filipinos.
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13-Nov-2007
Earth Times
The Colombian government is willing to wait for the approval of its Free Trade Agreement with the United States, but will not accept more changes to its contents, Colombian Trade Minister Luis Guillermo Plata said Tuesday in Washington.
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13-Nov-2007
AllAfrica.com
There is an old saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for life". Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are the equivalent of Europe telling the African fisherman that if he does not give them his fishing net (tariff flexibility) he will not be able to sell any more fish to them (fish exports). In return for the fishing net, Europe promises a European fish (aid) that the fisherman has to apply for and wait for over two years.
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13-Nov-2007
NZ Herald
New Zealand negotiators are gearing up for final talks in Wellington, where vital trade-offs will be made so that a deal can be signed with China at top political level before the end of next April.
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13-Nov-2007
Americas Program
Peruvian society, and what is worse, most politicians in the Andean countries, do not seem to have adequately grasped the reach of FTAs with the United States, and tend to evaluate them in purely commercial terms.
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12-Nov-2007
Inquirer
The controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement should be accompanied by a supplemental agreement because the treaty in its current form “fails to make a reservation for future preferential, protective, or development measures over Japanese investments,” Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Monday.
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12-Nov-2007
Earth Times
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has said that a free trade agreement (FTA) for the region will be concluded next year as scheduled.
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12-Nov-2007
Fibre to Fashion
"The illegal currency subsidies given by China to its manufacturing exporters dwarf the $9 billion in trade covered by the proposed Peru FTA. Rather than focusing on real trade problems, the House instead passed an FTA with a country that only could afford to buy 0.28 percent of U.S. exports in 2006,” American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition Executive Director Auggie Tantillo said
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12-Nov-2007
New Straits Times
Malaysia and Pakistan have signed a trade pact, Malaysia’s first bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with a member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).
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12-Nov-2007
Jakarta Post
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu called on Indonesian and Australia business people to try to diversify the type of goods and services exchanged between the two countries as their two governments are exploring to establish a free trade agreement.
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12-Nov-2007
Trinidad & Tobago Express
As negotiations intensify for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the Caribbean and European Union before year end, there are now growing calls for the "draft" accord to be made public before the region’s governments sign on to such a deal.
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11-Nov-2007
Jamaica Gleaner
A final make or break negotiating session is expected in the Caribbean at the end of November.
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11-Nov-2007
Yonhap
An estimated 20,000 blue-collar workers, farmers and college students staged a massive rally in downtown Seoul on Sunday in protest of a South Korea-US free trade agreement and government legislation that they claim discriminates against non-regular workers.
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11-Nov-2007
Zawya
Jordan and Canada will commence next week talks over a proposed Free Trade Agreement, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
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11-Nov-2007
Economic Times
India’s problems with the free trade agreement being worked out with the Asean notwithstanding, the country is eagerly exploring the possibility of entering into a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the sixteen East Asia Summit members, including the 10 Asean countries, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
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10-Nov-2007
Bulatlat
Filipino workers in Japanese firms based in Southern Tagalog oppose the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). They shared their stories of struggle against what they deem as “greed for profit of Japanese investors at the expense of labor.”
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10-Nov-2007
IPS
Everything was in place for the beginning of the end of the long-running conflict: a friendlier face about to be sworn in as president in Argentina, a tiny bit of flexibility on the part of Uruguay, a few points of agreement, and a Spanish mediator appointed by the King.
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10-Nov-2007
Canadian Press
One of Colombia’s most celebrated and provocative journalists is urging Canada to put the brakes on a trade deal with his country, citing unabated death threats and assassinations against colleagues and other government critics.
