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agriculture | farmers | food

Peru close to sign FTA with US
18-Nov-2005 MENAFN
The proposed free trade pact with the US has caused big demonstrations in Peru due to the farmers of sugar cane, rice, corn, potatoes and cotton fear that US agricultural subsidies will make it impossible for them to compete.
Peruvian farmers buck FTA with US
10-Nov-2005 Prensa Latina
Two important Peruvian agricultural organizations march Wednesday against president Alejandro Toledo’s negotiations for a free trade agreement with the US.
US links beef import to FTA with South Korea
9-Nov-2005 Korea Times
Alexander Vershbow, Washington’s top diplomat to Seoul, said Tuesday that South Korea’s lifting of the ban on US beef could trigger talks on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
Farmers reject new taxes, ask for assistance with upcoming FTA
3-Nov-2005 Dominican Today
Associations in the Dominican farming sector today rejected some of the measures recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and requested from the government to establish a program to shore the sector up, prior to implementing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States.
Does the FTAA have a future?
3-Nov-2005
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will become a reality only if the United States allows increased market access for Brazilian agriculture and competitive manufactures and if Brazil reciprocates by opening its market to foreign competition in goods and services.
The FTAA and its babies
2-Nov-2005 CKUT
From November 4-5th, 2005, the heads of state of 34 countries in the Americas will meet in Mar del Plata, Argentina, to push the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) forward. One big issue at the helm this year are the bilaterals - otherwise known as the FTAA’s babies - which establish free trade agreements on smaller scales.
Low prices force Mexicans from fields
30-Oct-2005 St Louis Post Dispatch
But in just over a decade, an estimated 1 million farmers in rural Mexico have lost their livelihoods.
Colombian farmers question FTA with US
29-Oct-2005 Prensa Latina
Rafael Mejia, president of the Colombian Association of Farmers (SAC), asserted his entity would not support a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US if farmers do not benefit from it.
Few trade gains from ’early harvest’: Sino-Thai pact misunderstood
28-Oct-2005 Bangkok Post
Tariff reductions on fruit and vegetables agreed on two years ago between Thailand and China have provided little benefit to the Thai economy.
Pacific countries confident of making deadline for EU trade agreement
26-Oct-2005 AFX
Leaders of Pacific island countries said they were confident of meeting the end-of-2007 deadline for reaching agreement with the European Union on a preferential trade deal despite slow progress in negotiations.
Colombian Attorney red flags FTA
26-Oct-2005 Prensa Latina
Attorney General Edgardo Maya admonished the government Tuesday that an ill-fated signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US would result in negative effects for Colombia.
Ecuador hesitant over FTA with US
25-Oct-2005 Prensa Latina
Chief Ecuadorian negotiator for the Free Trade Treaty with the US, Manuel Chiriboga, affirmed in a press conference Monday that the next negotiation round will determine whether or not it goes into effect in November.
As the TNCs catch you: An analysis of the liberalization of biotechnological products in the Thai-US FTA
21-Oct-2005 APRN
One of the books the Thai Prime Minister suggested his cabinet members read was “As the Future Catches You” by Juan Enriquez, a Mexican writer. The book’s contents relate to the fact that countries need to catch up with the development of biotechnology. Otherwise they will be alienated and left behind.
Filipino solons to probe 35 unratified bilateral agreements
18-Oct-2005 Asia Pulse
Philippine House Committees on globalization and trade will study 35 bilateral agreements the Philippines forged over the past decades with some countries.
Dangerous liaison
18-Oct-2005 Kathmandu Post
Under the guise of freeing trade, bilateral trade agreements (BTAs) are being used as a tool to further an absolute top-down Northern agenda, at the victimization of the poor and marginalized groups and communities of the South.
Developed world undermining WTO spirit through FTAs
18-Oct-2005 Financial Express
FTAs are being designed by the developed countries to get more than what the WTO and TRIPS could give at this stage.
End of monopoly in food sector will benefit customers
4-Oct-2005 Gulf News
The UAE’s decision to eliminate the monopoly in the foodstuffs sector will have a profound impact on the economy, according to analysts and businessmen.
Protests in St Lucia against EU negotiators
4-Oct-2005 Caribbean Net News
Farmers from across the Caribbean took to the streets of the St Lucian capital, Castries on Friday to picket top European Union negotiators, who were meeting on the island.
Veggie industry faces bleak future
3-Oct-2005 PDI
The Fair Trade Alliance blames the Philippine government’s trade commitments to the General Agreement on Tariffs Trade, the World Trade Organization and bilateral trade pacts for the problems facing the domestic vegetable industry.
Saudi Arabia accession to WTO (2005)
30-Sep-2005
Information sheets from USTR