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7-Aug-2008
KCTU
When KCTU called for general strike on July 2nd, renegotiation of the April 18 Protocol on US beef import to reflect food safety concerns was declared as one of priorities of strike aims. The Ministry of Labor and prosecutor explained that this was the main reason that it was illegal. This is a repetition of the South Korean government’s very narrow interpretation that the only legal aims of strikes be related to wages and working conditions.
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7-Aug-2008
NZBR
The United States’ dairy sector is looming as a major stumbling block for any New Zealand-USA free trade agreement as American farm lobbyists worry that NZ dairy exports could flood their domestic market.
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6-Aug-2008
Bernama
An EU-Asean Minus Free Trade Agreement — likely to exclude Laos, Burma and Cambodia — is expected to be established within the next two to three years’ time, a European Commission official in Indonesia said.
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6-Aug-2008
A top businessman and some economists in Namibia are optimistic that the proposed Southern African Development Community (SADC) Customs Union will break down trade barriers in the region and create competition that will benefit the ordinary consumer.
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6-Aug-2008
Embassy Magazine
With the Canada-Colombia deal done, but the text still kept secret, some say that the provisions on labour and the environment at least establish a record of commitment, while others say that without enforceable complaint mechanisms the side agreements amount to little more than lip service.
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6-Aug-2008
Local companies must step up their competitive edge to compete with products of foreign companies that will enter the Malaysian market in the goods and services sector under the liberalisation process of the World Trade Organization, Free Trade Agreements and Asean Framework Agreement on Services.
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6-Aug-2008
The collapse of the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks last week are
pushing Japan to become even more aggressive in seeking bilateral and
regional trade deals that advance its big corporate interests.
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6-Aug-2008
Economic Times
Sparks flew in the Sri Lankan parliament as supporters and critics clashed over the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India.
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6-Aug-2008
Interview with Aziz Choudry on the collapse of WTO talks in Geneva, and what’s happening with FTAs, aired on CKUT Radio’s Off the Hour, Tuesday edition, 5 August 2008.
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6-Aug-2008
Xinhua
The Peruvian Foreign Trade Ministry said Tuesday that representatives of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Peru will discuss the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for the Asia-Pacific Region.
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6-Aug-2008
Pacific Magazine
Australia has been accused of trying to fast-track new free trade negotiations with Pacific Island countries at a recent regional trade ministers’ meeting in the Cook Islands.
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6-Aug-2008
Paul Moist, the President of Canada’s largest union, expressed concern about a free trade deal between Canada and Colombia during a recent meeting with Fabio Valencio, Colombia’s Minister of the Interior.
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6-Aug-2008
Taiwan president Ying Jeou Ma today said he’s interested in accelerating talks for a Free Trade Agreement with Dominican Republic, for which his country’s representatives were already instructed to expedite them.
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6-Aug-2008
Jordan and Canada will initially sign a joint free trade agreement at the end of this month and will be officially approved by the end of this year, Jordanian General Secretariat for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Muntaser Al-Aqla said on Tuesday.
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5-Aug-2008
The East African Community is to conduct a regional manpower survey to establish the workforce base in the regional market ahead of coming into effect of the Common Market for East Africa in 2010.
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5-Aug-2008
The controversial free trade agreement between the Philippines and Japan is "edging" toward ratification with 12 senators signing a committee report recommending its approval by the Senate, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said Tuesday.
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5-Aug-2008
The political parties debated the pros and cons of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Parliament yesterday with the JVP and its breakaway group which is now called the National Freedom Front (NFF) asking the government to scrap it.
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5-Aug-2008
Korea Times
Left-wing activists are hoping to use Bush’s two-day visit to Korea to press for a renegotiation of the beef deal and reignite the candlelight protest movement. The protest will also raise calls to nullify a bilateral free trade agreement and withdraw Korean troops from Iraq.
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5-Aug-2008
PIB
Shri Kamal Nath, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry has expressed hope that the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) could be concluded during the next round of talks which are scheduled to be held in New Delhi in September 2008.
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5-Aug-2008
WWD
Four former architects of US trade policy, sharing nearly 20 years of negotiating experience between them and spanning three administrations, laid out to Congress last week their blueprints for a future agenda.
