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.
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.
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.
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.
Already in conversation with a number of countries and economic blocs to discuss free trade agreements, India now plans to engage with South Africa and New Zealand to negotiate new FTAs to further diversify its trade ties.
Ukrainian Prime Minister and Minister of International Trade of Canada have discussed the updated Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, which comes into force on July 1.
After a hiatus of over four years, negotiations for the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement have returned to the table, with the focus on a higher level of liberalization that goes beyond the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, particularly in areas such as automobiles and key components, analysts said.
Indonesia and Canada have commenced the eighth round of negotiations on the Indonesia–Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICA–CEPA) to deliberate on 20 negotiation issues.
Australian Deputy High Commissioner aims to enhance the scope and impact of the existing trade agreement between India and Australia, working towards formulating a comprehensive free trade agreement to strengthen economic relations between the two nations.