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21-Mar-2005
IP-Health
The global bully, the United States, has just coerced Guatemala, its
latest victim, into repealing an important law to lower the price of
pharmaceuticals and promote generic competition. The U.S. ambassador to
Guatemala acknowledged that the Guatemalan law was intended to advance
public health objectives. But, no matter, he said — U.S. commercial
interests in the form of Big Pharma demanded that the law go.
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21-Mar-2005
Manila Bulletin
Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Juan B. Santos said there is no rush in the proposed bilateral free-trade agreement with the US noting the country’s trade with the US is slowly losing steam while gaining markets elsewhere particularly, ASEAN, Japan and Greater China.
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21-Mar-2005
Business Monthly
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rachid Mohamed Rachid is bringing three decades of private sector experience to his post, taking on the twin challenge of modernizing industry and expanding foreign trade.
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20-Mar-2005
Building on a spree of free-trade deals across the region, Oman is in the process of signing a free-trade agreement with the United States by the end of 2005 or early 2006.
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20-Mar-2005
Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout has warned Chinese officials that intellectual piracy could be a critical block to plans for a free trade agreement, with international agencies estimating that 90 per cent of copyright goods sold in China are counterfeit.
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20-Mar-2005
Bangladesh will lose its right to speak for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) if it signs the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa) with the United States, economists at a discussion said yesterday.
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20-Mar-2005
AFP
India has signed a free trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc to boost trade. The trade agreement flows from the customs duty accord and now grants reciprocal tariff reductions on 450 items and greater market access.
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19-Mar-2005
HardBeatNews
By becoming an associate member of Mercosur, Cuba, at least indirectly, may have some influence in how the FTAA is finally formulated.
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19-Mar-2005
Mehr News
Iran’s first free trade agreement was signed during President Mohammad Khatami’s recent visit to Venezuela, said here Tuesday, Economy Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari.
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18-Mar-2005
Indybay (with photos)
Two people were killed and many injured as violence broke out during protests in Guatemala on Tuesday 15 March when President Oscar Berge ratified the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
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18-Mar-2005
Malaysia is among five countries that the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has recommended that the US administration explore the possibility of negotiating free trade agreements (FTA) with.
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18-Mar-2005
Bi- and multilateral trade relations between external actors and individual African states or regional blocs are becoming ever more decisive. The trade policies of both the USA and the EU are anything but helpful.
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17-Mar-2005
AFP
US Assistant Trade Representative Barbara Weisel urged the Philippines to sign a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with Washington to boost its underperforming economy and keep it globally competitive.
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17-Mar-2005
Seedling
Examines how bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements which contain specific investment provisions reflect geopolitical concerns and redefine rights and privileges for transnational corporations, including with respect to commercial control over biodiversity through intellectual property rights.
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17-Mar-2005
Xinhua
Costa Rica on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of an immediate ratification of the free trade agreement (FTA) between Central America and the United States due to pressure from economic and social sectors.
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17-Mar-2005
Yonhap
South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said 12,644 local peach, kiwi and grape farms across the country have decided to halt operations since the FTA’s ratification, indicating that the opening of the domestic market is taking a toll on the growers.
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17-Mar-2005
Oxford Business Group
Washington wants to sign Free Trade Agreements with every country in the Middle East - North Africa region by 2013, to promote economic and political development in line with recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission.
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17-Mar-2005
Daily Star
Australia and the United Arab Emirates agreed Tuesday to begin negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) that Canberra said would be a "launchpad" for expanded business opportunities across the Middle East.
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17-Mar-2005
Zdnet Australia
Warner Music Australia and other record companies are suing ISP Swiftel Communications for copyright infringement for allegedly hosting and maintaining two Internet computer servers and a Web site called Archie’s Hub which deploys the BitTorrent application. The case is the first to test legislation passed to enact the Australian-United States Free Trade Agreement.
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17-Mar-2005
Xinhua
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretary General Erastus Mwencha said his organization is looking forward to strengthening its relations with China, particularly in the area of trade and investment. He declined to elaborate on details of the trade agreement, but implied that it will be something like the Economic Partnership Agreement being negotiated by COMESA with the European Union or the Africa Growth Opportunity Act of the United States.
