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Progress on HIV drugs threatened by new trade pacts
20-Aug-2006 IPS
In the midst of the world’s biggest HIV/AIDS conference here, close to a hundred activists launched a noisy protest over bilateral free trade agreements, which they say elevate patent protections above the right to life-extending antiretroviral drugs.
CEOs will focus on NAFTA region
20-Aug-2006
The region covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement will loom large as chief executives across all industries plot their growth in 2007, according to a survey commissioned by the New York Stock Exchange. The executives listed the US and China as the top two "strategically important" countries.
US gives Pakistan ‘non-paper’ on BIT
20-Aug-2006
The United States has given a “non paper” to Pakistan that shows some flexibility for signing the much-delayed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the two countries soon.
Europe eager for trade pact with Korea
19-Aug-2006 Korea Times
The European Union is showing eagerness to establish a free trade agreement (FTA) with Korea ahead of the resumption of talks next month, officials of both sides say.
ASEAN wants agriculture to be in ASEAN-East Asia FTA
19-Aug-2006 Tehran Times
ASEAN does not discount the possibility of having a free trade agreement (FTA) with all East Asian countries as a whole, said the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry director Ramon Vicente T. Kabigting. However, it must first consider including agriculture in the agreement for this to materialise, he told reporters.
Free trade agreements, intellectual property and access to medicines
18-Aug-2006
Patent and data protection rules in free trade agreements have a profound impact on the ability of developing countries to access life saving medicines of assured quality.
Latin America Now: An Interview with Raúl Zibechi
17-Aug-2006 Upside Down World
In this interview, Raúl Zibechi discusses the challenges of the Evo Morales administration in Bolivia, the power and role of Bolivian social movements, projects for regional integration such as People’s Trade Agreement and the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the region’s new situation after the electoral victories of various "progressive" governments.
When free trade sinks into the ’noodle bowl’
17-Aug-2006 IHT
FTAs are supposedly meant to substitute for lack of progress at the WTO. In practice they are mostly preferential arrangements that run counter to APEC’s principle of "open regionalism," which allows members to pursue liberalization at their own pace but on a nondiscriminatory basis.
Pressure on SADC states to clear way for free trade area
17-Aug-2006
Pressure was mounting on Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders to get economic integration back on track in a bid to meet the 2008 target date for a free trade area in the region, said Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad yesterday.
Chile eyes Viet Nam free trade deal
17-Aug-2006 VNS
Viet Nam will receive priority under Chile’s plans to develop its free trade agreement (FTA), according to the Chilean Foreign Ministry’s External Economic Department.
FTA means deeper poverty in Peru
17-Aug-2006
An issue that has received less attention is the implications of the FTA for the entry of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) into Peru.
Asean to set deadline for India to decide on FTA talks
17-Aug-2006 Bernama
Asean will set a time frame for India to decide whether it wants to continue with negotiations on the Asean-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a Philippine economic official said Wednesday.
Plan B for world trade
16-Aug-2006 Financial Times
The indefinite suspension of the Doha round of world trade talks creates big risks for the world economy. A new explosion of discriminatory bilateral and regional agreements is likely to substitute for global liberalisation, eroding the multilateral rules-based system of the World Trade Organisation.
Negotiate, negotiate and negotiate
16-Aug-2006 Gulf News
The EU has brought up new subjects that "hasn’t really made the GCC side too happy" in terms of delaying the EU-GCC FTA negotiations. "You saw the negotiations being filled with all kinds of issues that really shouldn’t have been a part of an FTA agreement: human rights, political reform and (anti-) terrorism strategies."
Frente Amplio rejects FTA with US
16-Aug-2006
The Political Board of Uruguay’s Frente Amplio on Tuesday ratified its rejection of the US-sponsored Free Trade Agreements within the framework of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Goff: The current state of trade negotiations
16-Aug-2006 Scoop
New Zealand has never put all its eggs in one basket and has always maintained an active regional and bilateral agenda, parallel to the WTO. In current circumstances, that is likely to intensify.
Making free trade fair
15-Aug-2006
Ukrit Kungsawanich, a fruit grower in Rayong, was worried when he read in the news that a US company is trying to patent a drink made with mangosteen extract.
Seoul, Washington exchange initial proposals on tariff cuts for FTA
15-Aug-2006
South Korea and the United States exchanged initial tariff cut proposals for manufactured goods, agricultural products and textiles ahead of their third round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations next month, the government said Tuesday.
Too many trade pacts seen driving up costs
15-Aug-2006 INQ7
The proliferation of regional and bilateral free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific, coupled with the failure of global trade talks, is driving up transaction costs for business despite the decrease in tariffs.
Malawian farmers union wary of EU trade deal
15-Aug-2006
Farmers in Malawi have warned government to tread carefully before endorsing the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement, saying signing the deal will put the country’s agricultural products at the risk of not finding the international market.