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Keeping SOPA measures out of trade agreements ACTA, TPP
17-Feb-2012 Huffington Post
As protests against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) sweep across Europe, two conclusions are possible: the era of closed-door IP policy is over; and the content industry’s insatiable quest for more power and control is no longer irresistible.
SAARC countries agree to reform trade, visa regime
17-Feb-2012 Express Tribune
The eight member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation vowed to reduce the size of their respective sensitive lists of non-tradable items and expressed satisfaction over signing of the Saarc Agreement on Trade in Services.
Ewa Björling launches initiative for free trade with US
17-Feb-2012 Gvt of Sweden
Sweden’s Minister for Trade Ewa Björling is presenting the conclusions of a new report by the Transatlantic Task Force on Trade and Investment. The report proposes how an open market for trade and investments could be created between the EU and the US.
EU parliament approves Morocco agriculture trade deal
17-Feb-2012 Reuters
European Union lawmakers approved a new trade deal with Morocco on Thursday that will significantly extend duty-free sales of agricultural, food and fisheries products between the North African kingdom and the 27-nation bloc.
MTUC concerns over FTAs deepen
17-Feb-2012 FTA Malaysia
The president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Khalid Atan has expressed his belief that the time has come for the 800,000-strong workers’ movement to mobilise against the free trade agreements that the government is negotiating.
EU ready for free trade with PHL
17-Feb-2012 Business Mirror
The European Union is ready to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the Philippines as soon as essential reforms to improve investment climate, such as protection of intellectual-property rights, legal certainty in protecting investors and transparency in contracts are in place.
Chevron’s secret arbitration violates human rights
17-Feb-2012 Amazon Defense Council
The Andean Commission of Jurists and five prestigious international law experts from around the world have joined a growing chorus of criticism targeting Chevron’s attempt to use a secret investor arbitration as part of its campaign to evade an $18 billion environmental judgment in Ecuador, according to letters released today.
Come and get me: Argentina is putting international arbitration to the test
17-Feb-2012 The Economist
Argentina has never threatened to quit ICSID. Its government insists it is open to honouring the awards. The only delay, it says, is that the claimants have not brought their rulings to a local court for collection.
Parliamentarians from EFTA and Indonesia support comprehensive economic partnership
16-Feb-2012 EFTA
A delegation from the EFTA Parliamentary Committee visited Jakarta, Indonesia, from 7 to 10 February to discuss the merits of strengthened EFTA-Indonesia trade relations with legislators, officials and stakeholders, and to support the ongoing negotiations between EFTA and Indonesia on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA)
KORUS FTA battle coming in April general election
16-Feb-2012
Democratic Party lawmaker Chung Dong-young and former Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon had a number of face-offs during the final National Assembly debates just prior to the railroading of the South Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement ratification in October. Now the two men, who battled each other from the two extremes on the KORUS FTA issue, may be facing off once again for Seoul‘s Gangnam-B seat in April’s general election.
Major hypermarkets trying to deal with US beef issue
16-Feb-2012 CNA
Four major hypermarkets in Taiwan have been making efforts to reassure consumers about the safety of their beef products, amid speculations that Taiwan may be preparing to lift its ban on US beef imports that contain residues of the feed additive ractopamine in order to facilitate trade talks
EU diplomat pledges to expand EU-VN ties
16-Feb-2012 VNA
The EU and the Vietnamese government have held a series of seminars on the Free Trade Agreement at working level and are now going to hold more at ministerial level.
US-Colombia FTA still waiting for unionist violence to be addressed
16-Feb-2012 Colombia Reports
The United States said Monday Colombia had not yet met its obligations to protect labor unionists required for the Free Trade Agreement to come into effect.
Nepal-US TIFA meeting postponed to Sept
15-Feb-2012 Fibre2Fashion
At the upcoming meeting, Nepali entrepreneurs are expecting that the Government would work out a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to improve garment and Pashmina item exports to the US, exports of which have been declining since 2000.
Bulgaria retracts support for global anti-piracy agreement ACTA
14-Feb-2012 Bloomberg
“Authors’ copyrights should not be placed above human rights,” Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov said today,
Ecuador seeks to restart trade agreement talks with Europe
14-Feb-2012 Bloomberg
Ecuador is seeking an “affirmative response” from the European Union to restart trade talks stalled since the government of South America’s seventh-biggest economy stopped negotiations in 2009.
Group vows to protest if ban on ractopamine lifted
10-Feb-2012 CNA
An association of hog growers threatened Friday to mobilize its members in protest outside the Presidential Office if the government buckles under pressure and allows the entry of US beef imports containing a banned leanness-enhancing drug.
ACTA opponents welcome Germany’s decision
10-Feb-2012 Tech President
Opponents of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) welcomed the official decision by the German government today to wait for action from the European Parliament before signing the treaty, calling it a sign that the debate over the balance between copyright protection and Internet freedom has become more explicitly political.
“Don’t trade away our lives”
10-Feb-2012 The Hindu
“Whether we get to live or die should not be up to trade negotiators. We’re all here today with one clear message to India and the EU: ‘Don’t trade away our lives’,” said Mundrika Gahlot of the Delhi Network of Positive People.
India, EU decide to step up trade deal talks, sign research pact
10-Feb-2012 IANS
India and the 27-nation European Union Friday signed two key pacts, including a joint declaration on research and innovation, and agreed to step up negotiations for a broad-based trade and investment pact which continues to be mired in "complex issues."