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S’pore, Iran ink bilateral treaty on investment
4-Mar-2016 Asia One
Singapore has moved quickly to sign an investment treaty with oil-rich Iran to support Singapore firms investing in an economy that is emerging after the recent lifting of global sanctions.
Indigenous Peoples’ land and resource rights in Latin America
29-Feb-2016 IC Magazine
The impacts of free trade agreements.
EU told ExxonMobil that TTIP would aid global expansion, documents reveal
25-Feb-2016 The Guardian
Trade chief told oil giant in secret talks that free trade deal could address its concerns over regulations restricting activities in developing countries.
Venezuela, Gold Reserve to settle arbitration dispute with joint venture
25-Feb-2016 Reuters
Venezuela and Canadian mining company Gold Reserve signed a memorandum of understanding to settle a protracted arbitration dispute over a gold concession.
Japan and the Islamic Republic of Iran sign a bilateral investment agreement
16-Feb-2016 Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
The Agreement stipulates rules for investment protection and the development of an investment environment.
Tenaris wins $173 million dispute in Venezuela
12-Feb-2016 SteelOrbis
Luxembourg-based pipe producer Tenaris announced it won a $172.8 million compensation for the expropriation by Venezuela of Tenaris’ and its subsidiary Talta’s interests.
AU prioritises mining, intra-Africa trade
29-Jan-2016 The Herald
The Continental Free Trade Area offers African producers and investors an unique opportunity to benefit from this important market.
Correa: ’corruption’ lets Chevron off hook for Amazon pollution
26-Jan-2016 Tele Sur
The ruling from the District Court of the Hague in favor of U.S. oil giant Chevron effectively exonerated the company from any responsibility for remediating the contamination in the Amazon.
French firm attacks Ugandan tax using ISDS
29-Dec-2015 Inter-Press Service
The heavily criticized legal mechanism, known as ISDS, is an important tool for European companies to pressurize developing countries. This year Uganda joins the rank of developing nations asking themselves: “Why have we ever signed this?”
3 Ways the TPP Will Hurt the Climate—If We Let It Pass
12-Nov-2015 3 Ways the TPP Will Hurt the Climate
The Trans Pacific Partnership is in climate denial - nowhere in its more than 5,000 pages does it mention climate change.
Mooted free-trade area seen boosting intra-African minerals trade flows
20-Sep-2015 Mining Weekly
Formal negotiations are taking place among the 54 member States of the African Union to create a free-trade zone on the continent by 2017.
Canada, Japan clash over timber in TPP talks
6-Jul-2015 The Canadian Press
One of Canada’s most protected industries — British Columbia timber — has been targeted by Japan in the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks, The Canadian Press has learned.
Six tough questions about the China trade deal
22-Jun-2015 The Tyee
Gus Van Harten, author of ’Sold Down the Yangtze,’ breaks down the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement’s impacts.
LPG firm’s investor seeks compensation
28-Dec-2013
A shareholder from the United Kingdom of the company Progas Pakistan has initiated international arbitration proceedings of $573 million against Pakistan for alleged expropriation of its LPG infrastructure in Karachi and the government has decided to vigorously contest the case.
Complex trade pacts promote land grabs
2-Jul-2013 The Guardian
Multiplicity of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) leave room for some investors to take advantage of African resources, it has been asserted at a CUTS meeting in Geneva last week
ICSID: Ecuador Unlawfully Seized U.S. Firm’s Oil Investments
23-Dec-2012
The World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes has handed down a ruling against the Ecuadorian government, finding that it “unlawfully expropriated” U.S. firm Burlington Resources’ investments in two oil blocks.
Gas imports: India wants US to consider free trade pact
29-Nov-2012
To enable import of gas from the US, India has asked the US Government to consider a free trade agreement (FTA).
US firm to launch NAFTA challenge to Quebec fracking ban
16-Nov-2012
A US-incorporated energy firm, Lone Pine Resources Inc., is taking on Quebec’s stand against fracking, saying it violates the North American free-trade agreement and demanding more than $250-million in compensation.
Developing countries query European bid to abolish sugar quotas
28-Sep-2011 ACP
The ACP Sugar Group has recently been made aware through media reports of an “impact study” made by and for the European Commission, reportedly due for release in October 2011. This study refers to proposals for changes in the European sugar regime. It is hoped that this is not accurate as some of the key assumptions and results are more than questionable.
The alarmingly uneven deal of the India-EU FTA
22-Aug-2011
For over four years now, India has been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) - the largest trade and investment deal the country has ever embarked on. As much as New Delhi expects to lure the European market and investments closer to India, the actual consequences for the country’s economy could be dire: the open up of public procurement, the deregulation of the banking, automobile, retail and mining industries plus the adverse impact the deal will have in small-scale farmers make of this FTA a counter-productive undertaking.