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Coalition mourns one year of CAFTA, calls for trade with justice
30-Jul-2006 Stop CAFTA Coalition
One year after the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) narrowly passed in the US House of Representatives, the agreement has failed to live up to its supporters’ claims.
RI-Japan trade deal waiting on new law
28-Jul-2006
Trade Minister Mari Elka Pengestu says the government cannot sign a much-awaited Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan by the year’s end unless the House of Representatives speeds up the passage of the new investment bill.
Fighting the US-South Korea free trade agreement
28-Jul-2006 S&L
Participants in the growing movement inside South Korea who are opposed to the proposed U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement held demonstrations in Washington, D.C. during the first week of June while negotiations were being conducted.
India denies FTA talks deadlock
28-Jul-2006 Gulf Daily News
India’s Commerce and Industry Ministry said yesterday free trade talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were still on and officials from both sides were likely to submit fresh proposals soon.
Tanzania’s multi-block membership reaffirmed by SADC
28-Jul-2006 People’s Daily
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has okayed Tanzania’s multi-regional block membership, thus paying the way for the east African country to remain in SADC with its East African Community affiliation.
New Zealand optimistic of sealing FTA with M’sia soon
28-Jul-2006 Bernama
New Zealand is optimistic of concluding a Free Trade Agreement with Malaysia soon, its foreign minister, Winston Peters, said today.
BIMSTEC Taking Shape, Finally
27-Jul-2006
The Bay of Bengal for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), a regional trading bloc of seven South and Southeast Asian countries, is giving final shape to its free trade agreement in Colombo this week.
Asean suspends FTA talks with India
27-Jul-2006 Financial Express
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has suspended free-trade talks with India because of New Delhi’s reluctance to open its markets, Malaysia’s trade and industry minister said on Tuesday.
ANALYSIS: WTO collapse forces Japan down rocky FTA road
27-Jul-2006 Kyodo
Now that the global trade talks under the World Trade Organization have collapsed, Japan will be forced to walk down what looks like a rocky road to seek bilateral free trade agreements, marking a departure from its trade policy based on both multilateral and bilateral approaches.
Regional trade pacts rise to the fore
26-Jul-2006
Two weeks ago, members of the World Trade Organization agreed on rules that would make it easier to track bilateral and regional trade deals. Negotiators were concerned that the proliferation of such deals would detract from efforts, already faltering, to reach a global trade pact.
Will US Change Laws for FTA With Korea?
26-Jul-2006
South Korea has three major demands in its free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the United States since June when the first round of bilateral meeting began.
Asean suspends FTA talks with India
26-Jul-2006
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has suspended free-trade talks with India because of New Delhi’s reluctance to open its markets, Malaysia’s trade and industry minister said on Tuesday.
A Korea-U.S. trade agreement: what is at stake?
26-Jul-2006 The Hankyoreh
This examines macro-economic issues, intellectual property and patent protections, the potential impact on pharmaceuticals, and other issues at stake in the US-Korea FTA.
The death of the WTO’s Doha talks
26-Jul-2006 BBC News
You don’t have to declare multilateralism dead, just because this round of talks is over, but there are three particular, potential consequences of the collapse in the talks.
India considering trade pacts with EU, Japan
26-Jul-2006 Reuters
India is considering economic cooperation agreements with the European Union and Japan to boost trade, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday, a day after global free trade talks collapsed.
Taiwan presses for US trade pact
26-Jul-2006 AFP
Taiwan urged the United States to move quickly to forge a free-trade agreement (FTA) with America’s eighth biggest trading partner, despite bitter objections from China.
Zimbabwe farmers claim for land grab
25-Jul-2006 Business Day
A group of 11 dispossessed Zimbabwean farmers of Dutch origin are poised to take their case for compensation in respect of confiscated land to an international tribunal.
Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) concerns in agricultural trade
25-Jul-2006
Many US Congress Members are interested in how FTAs might address SPS matters. These Members are concerned that as trade agreements lower agricultural tariffs, more countries may turn to SPS measures to protect their farmers from import competition.
EU trawlers get fishing rights off Africa for £350m
24-Jul-2006 The Independent
The EU has signed its biggest-ever fisheries deal with an African nation, sparking a debate on the deal and the other 13 bilateral fisheries agreements in force.
Burgeoning trade ties no guarantee of Asian peace: analysts
24-Jul-2006 AFP
Burgeoning economic links through a web of free trade agreements (FTAs), financial cooperation and investments may reduce the risk of war in Asia but are no guarantee of peace, analysts say.