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Dispute over palm oil: Agreement with Indonesia breaks new ground
15-Jan-2021 Info Sperber
Only implementation can show what the palm oil agreement with Indonesia is worth, says trade expert Elisabeth Bürgi Bonanomi.
Cross-border data exchange: Regulatory options in international collaboration
15-Jan-2021 Federation of German Industries
German industry group BDI wants the EU to ban localization requirements and other limits to the free flow of data across borders.
African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Red tape delays start of trading under new pact
15-Jan-2021 Daily Maverick
All SACU members need to ratify the AfCFTA before any of its members can start trading under it. ECOWAS States were facing the same problem.
Nigeria: Dangote leveraging expansion under AfCFTA
14-Jan-2021 All Africa
Dangote Industries Limited has stated that its cement expansion plan and fertiliser investments will open new trade routes for the company and Nigeria under the trade deal.
Ukraine plans to negotiate on free trade area with China, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia
13-Jan-2021 Ukraine Open For Business
Ukraine has started preparations for negotiations on new agreements on a free trade area (FTA) with Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia and China, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Ihor Petrashko has said.
EU will not ask China to sign forced labor ban before ratifying investment deal, says French minister
13-Jan-2021 Politico
France will insist on a ‘calendar’ for Beijing’s reforms instead.
UK to start talks with EU on finance cooperation this week
13-Jan-2021 Bloomberg
The UK will begin talks with the European Union this week on how regulators will cooperate over financial services now Brexit has been completed.
Israel plans a free trade agreement with Morocco, Amir Peretz says
13-Jan-2021 Yabiladi
Israel aspires to sign a free trade agreement with Morocco, Israeli Minister of Economy Amir Peretz said.
African free trade tariff rules should be completed by July-official
12-Jan-2021 Reuters
Members of Africa’s new free trade area should complete their tariff reduction schedules and finalise essential rules of origin by July.
The UK’s trade deal with Vietnam builds on Hanoi’s accord with the EU
12-Jan-2021 Vietnam Briefing
The UKVFTA is based on the terms of the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement and is one of several ‘continuity agreements’ based on existing European Union trade agreements with third countries.
Ottawa launches public consultations on free trade deal with Indonesia
12-Jan-2021 RCI
The federal government is launching public consultations on the merits of a possible free trade deal with Indonesia, International Trade Minister Mary Ng announced.
Investment protection in the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement
11-Jan-2021 Kluwer Arbitration Blog
The EU-UK agreement contains limited protections for investors and no investor-state enforcement mechanism. Its dispute resolution mechanism is limited to a “WTO-like” state-to-state arbitration.
Will Pakistan lose New York’s Roosevelt Hotel?
11-Jan-2021 TRT
The Investor-State Dispute Settlement process has gone against developing countries for far too long.
Dhaka drops plan to negotiate FTA with US
11-Jan-2021 Financial Express Bangladesh
The government has backtracked from a plan to propose the United States for signing a free trade area deal considering its lack of preparedness, an official says.
Tehran, Kabul to ink preferential trade agreement
11-Jan-2021 Tehran Times
Director General of the Asia-Pacific Office at Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization said that a preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan is going to be signed in the near future.
China tried to punish European states for Huawei bans by adding eleventh-hour rule to EU investment deal
11-Jan-2021 South China Morning Post
Draft text shows Beijing looked to withhold telecoms sector benefits to firms from countries with restrictions on Chinese telecoms companies.
The multinationals suing governments over their pandemic response
11-Jan-2021 New Statesman
Law firms have been drawing investors’ attention to how they could pass their Covid-19-related losses onto states.
US Consulate a turning point for disputed Western Sahara
11-Jan-2021 AP
Trump said the goal of the Western Sahara consulate would be “to promote economic and trade opportunities in the region.”
US assesses potential losses in agricultural exports to EU if the Mercosur deal is finally ratifies
11-Jan-2021 MercoPress
Analysis by the United States Department of Agriculture point out that the country has US$ 4 billion in agricultural exports that may be affected to some extent by the European Union-Mercosur trade deal.
S. Korea to accelerate free trade talks with Russia - President
11-Jan-2021 UrduPoint
South Korea plans to speed up negotiations on free trade in the investment and services areas with Russia and China, President Moon Jae-in said.