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India-Australia trade agreement gathering momentum under Morrison: Report
8-Mar-2021 Mint
India is moving in to fill the vacuum left by China for Australian resources and wine, with a free-trade agreement between Canberra and New Delhi gathering momentum.
Suriname signs CARIFORUM-UK EPA
8-Mar-2021 MENAFN
Suriname joined the UK and 13 other CARIFORUM States that have already signed the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Austria reaffirms its veto of the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur
8-Mar-2021 Inspired Traveler
Austria reaffirmed its veto of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, and asked Portugal to avoid any “possible attempt” to the pact enters into force in its current form.
Can an Australia–India FTA succeed where RCEP failed?
8-Mar-2021 East Asia Forum
Having secured free trade agreements (FTAs) with almost all key trading partners, Australia is honing in on a long elusive but lucrative market — India. Tensions with China, the need to find new sources of economic growth and government policy to diversify trading partners are pushing Australia into India’s arms.
China has officially ratified RCEP deal: commerce minister
8-Mar-2021 Xinhua Net
The Chinese government has officially ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said Monday.
Swiss free trade deal with Indonesia narrowly survives referendum
7-Mar-2021 swissinfo.ch
Voters in Switzerland have given the green light to a free trade deal with Indonesia with a small majority of 51.6%.
Germany to pay nuclear operators 2.6 billion euros for plant closures
6-Mar-2021 Reuters
Vattenfall will get 1.606 billion euros and agreed to end pursuing a separate damages claim in the World Bank’s ICSID arbitration tribunal.
Trade agreements like NAFTA are a menace to democracy
5-Mar-2021 Jacobin
Free-trade agreements enable companies to sue governments if they interfere with profit-making activities, no matter how destructive. These trade deals put us in an antidemocratic straitjacket — it’s time we got rid of them.
Wheat growers eye Indonesian trade talks
5-Mar-2021 The Western Producer
The wheat sector is excited about the prospect of Canada entering into trade agreement negotiations with Indonesia.
EU lawmakers stall vote to ratify EU-UK trade deal in protest
5-Mar-2021 Reuters
The European Parliament abandoned its plan to set a date for voting on the EU-UK trade deal, in protest at what the European Union sees as Britain’s unlawful changes to Northern Irish Brexit arrangements.
China wants to boost trade with US allies, no mention of US deal
5-Mar-2021 Al Jazeera
China stands ready to work with other countries to achieve mutual benefits on the basis of greater mutual opening,” Premier Li Keqiang said.
Palm oil row fuels Swiss vote on Indonesia trade deal
5-Mar-2021 France 24
Switzerland votes Sunday on a free trade deal with Indonesia but the agreement, which opens up a vast potential market, could slip up over the issue of palm oil imports.
EFTA insists on the UPOV clause in negotiating mandates for free trade agreements (FTAs)
4-Mar-2021 Swiss Coalition for the Right to Seed
EFTA’s response to the June 2020 open letter, supported by 250 organisations from around the world, is disappointing. EFTA maintains the UPOV 91 requirement in FTAs. The right to seeds therefore remains under pressure.
Kenya urged not backslide on plastics regulation as FTA negotiations resume
4-Mar-2021 The Star
The US-Kenya free trade talks should not be used as a justification to undermine Kenya’s efforts to regulate the use of single-use plastics, says Greenpeace Africa.
Political commitments not enough to ratify EU-Mercosur deal, says French minister
4-Mar-2021 Euractiv
Mere “political commitments” will not be enough to ratify the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur countries, a French cabinet minister said.
EU vows legal response as UK moves unilaterally on Northern Ireland
4-Mar-2021 Reuters
The European Union promised legal action after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move Brussels said violated terms of Britain’s divorce deal.
A Canadian view on Ceta trade deal
4-Mar-2021 The Irish Times
Ireland should do the right thing for both Irish and Canadians and reject this trade agreement.
Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum & ECONEWS Africa court case challenging the Kenya-UK Economic Partnership Agreement
3-Mar-2021 Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum & ECONEWS Africa
The case was filed this monday at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division, and seeks to compel the Government to ensure transparency and effective public participation before the agreement is made into law by the National Assembly.
UK signs Trade Partnership Agreement with Ghana
3-Mar-2021 UK Government
The deal supports a trading relationship worth £1.2bn and reinstates the terms of the economic partnership agreement between the two sides when the UK was part of the EU.
Biden, Uhuru talk guarantees FTA negotiations on course
3-Mar-2021 The Standard
In a statement released after the first telephone conversation with President Joe Biden on Thursday evening, the State House noted that Kenya being the fourth largest trading partner of the US in Africa, Biden had re-affirmed commitment to enhance trade relations.