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News from the movements

APEP should be used to eliminate ISDS, say members of Congress, US and Latin American civil society
23-Jul-2024 Public Citizen
Members of Congress, grassroots activists, and civil society organizations from the US and Latin America urged the United States to use the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) to undo the damage of decades of corporate-dominated trade policy.
Stop burdering people at the end of the term, Mr. President!
23-Jul-2024 Bilaterals.org
A total of 37 organizations and 29 people conveyed their urge to President Joko Widodo via open letter to stop negotiations between Indonesia - European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (I-EU CEPA). This demand was conveyed after Indonesia completed the 19th round of negotiations on 1-5 July 2024 behind closed doors.
TC Energy loses $15-billion NAFTA lawsuit against US
19-Jul-2024 The Monitor
The welcome decision shines a light on Canada’s flawed defence in similar investor-state case against Canada.
Dismissal of $15 billion NAFTA legacy case on Keystone XL pipeline is welcome, but billions in egregious claims still remain
17-Jul-2024 Public Citizen
The World Bank has dismissed Canadian oil company TC Energy’s $15 billion ISDS case against the US sought due to lack of jurisdiction.
Australian legal experts call for swift removal of ISDS
12-Jul-2024 AFTINET
62 Australian lawyers and legal scholars have issued an open letter urging the Australian government to swiftly implement its policy of excluding Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions from current and future trade and investment agreements.
I-EU CEPA negotiations hijack democratic rights and ignore potentional impacts on society
4-Jul-2024 Indonesia AIDS Coalition
Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ) and the Indonesia AIDS Coalition (IAC) criticized the I-EU CEPA, which hijacked the people’s rights to democracy while ignoring the negotiations’ wider impact. The I-EU CEPA negotiations lacked transparency, ignored public aspirations, and did not allow for meaningful participation from civil society groups.
Next steps on the USMCA corn case: What the panelists should ask
25-Jun-2024 IATP
This week the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) dispute over Mexico’s restrictions on genetically modified (GM) corn and glyphosate enters a new phase.
NAFTA at 30: The mother of all free trade agreements
13-Jun-2024 bilaterals.org & GRAIN
As the first free trade agreement in contemporary history, the North American Free Trade Agreement, turns 30, it’s a good time to ask why this particular treaty played such a watershed role in the history of the global regime of trade and investment.
The corporate colonization of Latin America
11-Jun-2024 Public Citizen
How Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) harms indigenous communities.
UN criticises EFTA for jeopardising the right to food
7-Jun-2024 Swiss Right to Seed Coalition
The member countries of European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are jeopardising the right to food through free trade agreements with countries of the Global South.
Peoples of Mesoamerica in defence of seeds and maize
7-Jun-2024 GRAIN
This call for the defence of maize and all peasant seeds comes amid increasing pressure to impose the so-called UPOV laws through trade agreements and other neoliberal policies throughout the region.
Free trade frenzy: the hidden costs of South Asia’s economic gamble
6-Jun-2024 GRAIN
As debt pressures rise, South Asia’s economic strategies are increasingly revolving around FTAs. The frenzy, however, is not only reshaping the region’s trade dynamics, but also a wide array of national legal frameworks, from labour rights to agriculture policies.
Anticipating the 2026 CUSMA review
6-Jun-2024 TIRP
The mandatory six-year review of the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement is still more than two years away, but TIRP researchers are ahead of the game.
Secretive court system has awarded over $100bn public money to corporations, finds new analysis
6-Jun-2024 The Guardian
More than $100bn of public money has been awarded to private investors in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) courts, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet.
New Sierra Club report: Trading away our climate exposes how trade pacts undermine climate action
3-Jun-2024 Sierra Club
Report urges elimination of ISDS Provisions, calls for stronger trade policies to protect climate.
Historic victory: Council gives green light for EU withdrawal from climate-wrecking Energy Charter Treaty
31-May-2024 CAN Europe
The Council of the EU adopted a historic decision to withdraw the European Union from the Energy Charter Treaty, an international investment treaty from the 1990s increasingly used by the fossil fuel industry to sue governments over their climate and energy policies.
Modernisation of the Chile-EU FTA: a false promise of equity and development
22-May-2024 PSI
An in-depth analysis of the Chile-EU FTA reveals its profound neo-colonial character and that it is an instrument of the neo-liberal economic order that emerged in the 1980s.
Resisting green colonialism for a just transition
20-May-2024 Global Justice Now
A serious overhaul of how we run the economy and live our lives is needed to tackle the climate crisis – and there are signs that decision makers are recognising the urgent need for a ‘green transition’: a massive shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy systems.
The EU’s critical minerals crusade
16-May-2024 SOMO
The EU is aggressively pursuing critical minerals globally to benefit from the energy transition, securing access via trade agreements and partnerships. Failure to address resource overconsumption risks reinforcing inequalities and intensifying extractivism.
How the fast-track law could expose future NZ governments to expensive trade disputes
10-May-2024 The Conversation
Foreign investors wanting to protect their gains under the controversial new law could hold the country to ransom by threatening a dispute. As a result, they would constrain New Zealand’s democratic ability to exercise its sovereignty, and to protect te Tiriti rights.