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Africa feels pain of trade talks with Europe
26-Sep-2007 Reuters
Africa is in a catch-22 situation. The Economic Partnership Agreements will ensure continued tariff-free exports to Europe, but may kill domestic production.
Israeli deal to boost defence
26-Sep-2007 Australian
A surge in Israeli hi-tech investment and the transfer of world-leading military technology is set to be unleashed next year with the expected sealing of a free trade agreement between Australia and Israel.
Central America Free Trade Agreement dividing Costa Rican society
26-Sep-2007 IndyBay
For the first time in the history of world, a voting population will have the opportunity to vote on a free trade agreement in a referendum.
GCC, Seoul set to start FTA talks
25-Sep-2007 Zawya
As part of an ambitious plan to widen economic cooperation, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and South Korea are all set to start negotiations after Ramadan to implement a free trade agreement
India, Sri Lanka aim to broaden free-trade agreement
25-Sep-2007 Bloomberg
Discussions on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement have been inconclusive for about three years as India seeks to restrict the export of pepper and hydrogenated vegetable oil from Sri Lanka, which is concerned about jobs being lost to Indians.
CAFTA in Costa Rica would cause deepening inequality
25-Sep-2007 IRC Americas Program
CAFTA is a legal instrument that favors multinational expansion without limits, leaving the most underprivileged sectors of Costa Rica totally unprotected, among them women and the poor. The strong movement against ratification of CAFTA will not end with the approval or rejection of the agreement on 7 October 2007, but could well be the seed of broader social transformation.
Press release by FTA Watch
25-Sep-2007
The Thai government has decided to conduct an exchange of diplomatic notes with the Japanese government on 2 October 2007, which will put the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) into effect within 30 days without bringing the matter under the scrutiny of the National Legislative Assembly. Prime Minister Surayut Chulanont defiantly announced that he would resign if ever a petition was made to the Constitutional Court and his decision proved to be in violation of the constitution.
US eyes bilateral investment treaty with Vietnam
25-Sep-2007 Thanh Nien
The US aims to ink a bilateral investment treaty with Vietnam, according to the US ambassador.
CAFTA a danger says Nobel Prize winner
25-Sep-2007 Prensa Latina
Nobel Peace Prize winner Argentine Adolfo Perez Esquivel (1980) called on Costa Ricans to reject the free trade agreement with the United States or submit themselves to the US market.
Envoy hints at free-trade deal for Israel’s 60th
24-Sep-2007 AJN
Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem has hinted that a free-trade agreement between Israel and Australia could be finalised in time for the Jewish State’s 60th anniversary next year.
PM urged to take trade deal to parliament
24-Sep-2007 Bangkok Post
Thailand’s Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont should think carefully before effecting the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) on November 1 without legislative body approval because such an action could violate the constitution, according to the FTA Watch group.
Ghana: Poultry sector to be hardest hit by EPAs, stakeholders kick against it
24-Sep-2007 AllAfrica.com
For the last few years, the Ghanaian market has been flooded with cheap imported chicken from the European Union and the United States. These are usually fatty chicken parts that come in packages without labels. Demand for local poultry has collapsed, threatening the livelihoods of over 1,000 poultry farmers in both small and large-scale poultry farming in Ghana. The current situation will be compounded when the EPAs take effect in 2008 with the removal of tariffs across board.
This is the way some agreements should end
24-Sep-2007 IPS
Elaborate funeral rituals were performed in central Brussels over the past week to show how a planned free trade accord between the European Union and the Korean government should, in the view of anti-poverty campaigners, be buried.
Senate panel gives initial okay to Peru trade deal
24-Sep-2007 Reuters
The US Senate Finance Committee approved on Friday a draft of a free trade agreement with Peru. Sen. Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat and critic of most trade deals, urged colleagues to support the agreement as a bulwark against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an ardent foe of the United States.
Development challenges of competition policy in the Economic Partnership Agreements
24-Sep-2007
A brief critique of the EU’s proposal on Competition Policy in the EPAs.
Costa Rica dealt wild card in trade pact rift
22-Sep-2007 LA Times
With just over two weeks to go before Costa Ricans head to the polls to vote on a free-trade agreement with the United States and six other countries, Alfredo Volio should be a happy man. As head of the "yes" campaign championing the pact, known as CAFTA, he has watched public support climb in recent months. But that was before a memo written by CAFTA advocates was leaked to the public this month, fueling outrage here.
Draft EU-ECOWAS EPA (April 2007)
22-Sep-2007
Draft EU-SADC EPA (EU proposal, June 2007)
22-Sep-2007
Draft EU-ESA EPA (July 2007)
22-Sep-2007
European and Korean social movements and civil society unite against the ‘Global Europe’ strategy and the South Korea-EU FTA
21-Sep-2007
On the occasion of the 3rd round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between South Korea and the EU taking place from 17th till 21st September in Brussels, Belgium, members of the Korean Alliance against Korea-EU FTA (KoA) and members from social movements and civil society organisations from Europe have come together to join forces and struggle together against the Global Europe strategy and the Korea-EU FTA.