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agriculture | farmers | food

Beef heading overseas
10-Mar-2007 KGWN
South Korea announced Thursday that it will lower its quarantine standards for US beef imports and resume imports of American beef that do not contain bone fragments.
US pears and apples first beneficiaries of the FTA US-Dominican Republic
9-Mar-2007 Fresh Plaza
The US export of 25 MT of pears and apples to the Dominican Republic was the first transaction following the application of the free trade agreement between both countries.
S. Korea, U.S. make no headway at agriculture FTA talks
6-Mar-2007
South Korea and the United States made no headway in high-level talks to resolve outstanding agricultural issues that have been a sticking point in bilateral free trade negotiations, the government said Tuesday.
Cabinet to state its stand on M’sia-US FTA issue
5-Mar-2007
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry would be presenting to the Cabinet this Wednesday the stand taken by all the respective ministries and agencies involved in the Malaysia-US Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Out of the cage: FTA must promote fair, not free trade
5-Mar-2007 New Straits Times
I was travelling in the northern regions recently and casually asked Haji Manaf, a padi farmer and Umno stalwart in his late 50s, if he had heard of the Malaysia-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which is currently being negotiated. He said he had read about it in the Malay newspapers but really didn’t understand what it was all about.
Korea, US agree to exclude rice from FTA
4-Mar-2007 Korea Times
South Korea and the United States have in principle agreed to exclude rice from their free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.
Gambia Social Forum condemns EU-EPA negotiations
1-Mar-2007 The Point
The executive members of the Gambia Social Forum have condemned the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that is being negotiated between the European Union and ECOWAS member states. They say that these proposed free trade agreements would exacerbate the current agricultural crisis that farmers already face, increase poverty, and violate human rights.
Declaration of Nyéléni
28-Feb-2007 Nyéléni2007.org
What are we fighting against? Imperialism, neo-liberalism, neo-colonialism and patriarchy, and all systems that impoverish life, resources and eco-systems, and the agents that promote the above such as international financial institutions, the World Trade Organisation, free trade agreements, transnational corporations,and governments that are antagonistic to their peoples...
Mexico: Staple foods at risk from free market
27-Feb-2007 IPS
When the Mexican government negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in force since 1994, it estimated that 14 years of safeguards for its maize and beans would be enough time for local production of these crops to become competitive. But things did not work out that way.
Entering into a dangerous battle
24-Feb-2007 Bangkok Post
The military-installed Thai government is entering into a risky new battle with farmer’s groups and the anti-FTA movement by pressing ahead with the Thai-Japan free trade agreement. Thousands of farmers, environmental activists and medical patients now plan to stage a mass protest next month against the government’s pro-FTA policy.
S Korean trade official hints at resolution of beef spat with US
23-Feb-2007 Yonhap
South Korea’s chief negotiator in free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the United States on Friday said the two sides could resolve a trade dispute over his country’s rejection of US beef shipments, one of a few lingering obstacles in the nine-month-old negotiations.
US "free trade": Death, drugs and despair in Colombia
23-Feb-2007 Huffington Post
The so-called "free trade" deal between Colombia and the US would likely displace hundreds of thousands of poor rural Colombians from their lands, sending them into far deeper economic despair-and forcing many of them to work for the very groups that violently displaced them from their lands. You can not make this agreement—or any similar past agreement—better by tinkering around the edges.
Grassroots organizing, regional trade agreements and food sovereignty in Africa
19-Feb-2007 Grassroots Journal
Grassroots movements have made great strides towards putting the power of the food system in citizens’ hands, but ongoing bi-lateral and regional trade negotiations threaten to curtail these advances.
Policy space for Mexican maize: Protecting agro-biodiversity by promoting rural livelihoods
16-Feb-2007 GDAE
With maize trade scheduled to be fully liberalized under NAFTA in 2008, many farm groups are calling for a renegotiation of the treaty’s agricultural provisions to prevent further damage. This analysis examines the room for alternative policies in Mexico under existing economic and environmental agreements, including NAFTA. It concludes that the Mexican government retains access to many useful policy instruments that could promote rural livelihoods while arresting the losses of important maize diversity. What is lacking is the political will to make use of them.
Namibia: Beef deadline looms
16-Feb-2007 AllAfrica.com
The deadline is looming for the day when the preferential treatment that Namibia has enjoyed for its beef, lamb and table grape exports to the European Union ends on January 1 2008.
SK-US free trade deal may open 10 out of 18 types of rice products
15-Feb-2007 Hankyoreh
Contrary to its long-standing assertion that rice will be excluded from a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US, South Korea’s government is reviewing measures to open some less sensitive rice products.
US envoy says solving farm issues is key to possible FTA with Japan
15-Feb-2007 Kyodo
US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer sounded a positive note Wednesday over a possible free trade agreement between the world’s two major economies and indicated that resolving farm issues would be the key.
KoA No FTA Newsletter #2
15-Feb-2007 KoA
Farmers release animals in protest, 500 attend all-night vigil; KoA protest delegation holds all-night vigil, congressional briefing in DC; Limiting access to healthcare: FTA and pharmaceuticals
FTA could mean nearly full opening of Korean agricultural market
14-Feb-2007 Hankyoreh
South Korea’s negotiators on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States reportedly said they would halve the number of agricultural products currently protected from tariff removal from 235 to around 100, sources said.
S Korean farmers use animals to oppose US FTA
13-Feb-2007 Asia Pulse
The farmers, wearing jackets emblazoned with messages disapproving of the talks to seal a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, stormed into the bustling Myeongdong fashion district in several carloads and released one pig, six goats and about 300 radishes.