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Draft bill no threat to foreign investors in South Africa
2-Apr-2014 Business Daily
"There are various perceptions that the draft bill falls short of acceptable international standards. This is not so," says the Department of Trade and Industry
Indonesia should withdraw from the ICSID!
2-Apr-2014 Jakarta Post
If there is dispute against the government, investors, be they foreign or local, they should bring their cases to the Indonesian judiciary or other available national dispute mechanisms.
Brazil/Argentina agree on deal to promote bilateral trade by guaranteeing ’dollar liquidity’
2-Apr-2014 MercoPress
Brazil and Argentina signed a deal over the weekend that seeks to guarantee importers will have enough U.S. dollars to pay for exports, a move to increase trade between both nations that has been hit hard by a sharp depreciation of the Argentine peso.
China’s Xi wins EU pledge to consider free-trade deal
2-Apr-2014 Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping won a promise from the European Union on Monday to consider a multi-billion-dollar free-trade deal with his country, a long-held goal for Beijing which divides Europe.
West Africa: Ecowas postpones signing EU trade deal
2-Apr-2014 The Point
"We believe it needs further scrutiny," announced President Yahya Jammeh, referring to the issue of signing an Economic Partnership Agreement negotiated by ECOWAS with the European Union.
Southern African nations push for European trade-deal extension
1-Apr-2014 Bloomberg
Southern African trade ministers will lobby for an extension of a trade agreement with Europe before it expires in October, a senior Botswana official said.
Fisheries minister promises efforts to minimize loss for fishermen from China FTA
31-Mar-2014 Yonhap
South Korea’s fisheries minister pledged full government efforts to limit losses by local fishermen from a free trade agreement with China and take compensatory measures for businesses inevitably hurt by the pact, reports state news agency Yonhap.
Ukrainian leftist: ’The enemy is within – whether in Russia, Ukraine or the West’
31-Mar-2014 Links
What will happen next in Ukraine? The coordinated plundering of the country by both sides (the West and Russia), says Kolesnik Dmitry.
Large crowds fill Taipei streets in protest over China trade bill
31-Mar-2014 NYTimes
More than 100,000 demonstrators — some television news stations put the number as high as 700,000 — took to the streets of Taipei on Sunday to protest efforts by the government to approve a trade pact with China and to show support for the students who have occupied Taiwan’s Legislature for nearly two weeks.
Leaked EU analysis of TTIP IPR negotiations
28-Mar-2014 KEI
Here is a two-page excerpt from a March 20, 2014 EU analysis of the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations on intellectual property rights, including geographical indications.
Indonesia terminates its BIT with the Netherlands from 1 July 2015 and may terminate all of its BITs
28-Mar-2014 Lexology
While certain countries have terminated individual BITs, termination of all BITs would be unprecedented.
Spanish organizations denounce transatlantic free trade agreement
28-Mar-2014 Prensa Latina
Spanish social and union organizations condemned today trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States to sign the Transatlantic Free Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Jon Weissman: A free trade pact’s sorry numbers
28-Mar-2014 Gazette Net
New evidence of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement’s damaging record provides the latest reason why Congress should not delegate away its constitutional trade authority and allow the Trans-Pacific Partnership to be “fast-tracked” into place.
Tripartite FTA: Answer to poor intra-African trade
28-Mar-2014 Southern Times
African countries need to look at the possibility of fast-tracking the tripartite Free Trade Area if hopes of an improved intra-African trade are to be met anytime soon, according to the African Union Commission
The secret deal that threatens the food on your plate
28-Mar-2014 FOEE
Untangling the EU-US trade talks : What are the big concerns for food & farming? What might be the consequences for our food and farming? Friends of the Earth Europe and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy hosted a discussion in Brussels on 13 March 2014.
Japan FTA dairy concerns
28-Mar-2014 Farmonline
The push by the Australian Government to have a hand-shake deal done by the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, when he visited Japan in April could see dairy miss out, Australian Dairy Farmers president Noel Campbell said.
Ghana: Don’t sign Economic Partnership Agreement - Coalition urges gov’t
28-Mar-2014 Ghana Web
A coalition of civil society organisations, farmer-based groups, religious organisations and labour unions have asked President John Mahama to show commitment to encouraging the productive capacity of Ghanaians by not signing the Economic Partnership Agreement.
EU: Online public consultation on ISDS in the TTIP
27-Mar-2014 DG Trade
The European Commission is consulting the public in the EU on a possible approach to investment protection and ISDS in the TTIP between now and 21 June 2014.
Costa Rica rounds out free trade agreements with Europe
27-Mar-2014 Tico Times
The Legislative Assembly has approved a bill sealing a free trade agreement with EFTA, a group of non-EU countries including Lichtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
EU accelerates FTA negotiations with Vietnam
27-Mar-2014 VOV
The European Union is speeding up negotiations of a free trade agreement with Vietnam due to be signed in late 2014.