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News from the movements

Out with the old: ISDS & charting a new future
8-Jan-2024 Rethink Trade
In our latest episode, we’re talking about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) and its implications for our economies and democracies.
Daya Laxmi: “Free Trade Agreements affect and victimize peasant groups”
19-Dec-2023 Capire
Women from all around the world organize the struggle against capitalism and neoliberalism. In the South Asia region, these forces—in the form of free trade agreements (FTA)—play a huge role in the impoverishment of peasants and women in rural and urban areas.
Overview of the implications for developing countries/LDCs of the JSI E-commerce text (Revision 5)
18-Dec-2023
Developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs) face growing pressure to participate in and adopt the outcomes of plurilateral negotiations on electronic commerce.
LNG firm’s $20-billion lawsuit against Canada exposes NAFTA’s toxic legacy
15-Dec-2023 Canada’s National Observer
A company launched a record-breaking NAFTA lawsuit against Canada — confirming the dire threat that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) poses to bold climate action.
Mexico must stand up to agribusiness oligopolies on GM corn ban
13-Dec-2023 Inequality.org
US and Canadian civil society groups are denouncing their own governments’ efforts, driven by the agribusiness industry, to repeal Mexico’s proposed ban on genetically modified corn.
Peoples’ economic sovereignty and human rights protection must be prioritized over Indonesia-EU CEPA negotiation
13-Dec-2023 Indonesia for Global Justice
The Indonesian Civil Society Coalition for Economic Justice (MKE) urges the Government of Indonesia to stop free trade negotiations with the European Union by adhering to the main principles of international cooperation in accordance with the Constitution.
Delay of EU-Mercosur trade deal: A relief for peoples and environmental justice
8-Dec-2023 Friends of the Earth International
After more than 20 years of negotiations the EU-Mercosur trade deal has been delayed again, with countries unable to reach an agreement by the end of an all-important Mercosur summit.
"Free trade agreements are an engine of poverty and inequality." Interview with José María Oviedo
28-Nov-2023 bilaterals.org
In a context where free trade policies have had a significant impact on peasant and farming communities around the world, La Via Campesina has declared that it is time to take strong action.
Explainer: Free trade zones and free trade agreements
24-Nov-2023 bilaterals.org
Free trade agreements, free trade zones and special economic zones are all designed to promote business-friendly regulations and encourage economic liberalisation, but they are different in nature.
Energy Charter Treaty plans for expansion revealed in recently posted notes
24-Nov-2023 Global Justice Now
Notes from the Energy Charter Treaty Conference reveal plans for the controversial Energy Charter Treaty to expand to more oil-producing countries.
Farmer and peasant organisations from Europe and South America unite against the “modernisation” of the EU-Chile Free Trade Agreement
20-Nov-2023 European Coordination Via Campesina
The following analysis outlines some of the main reasons why the signatory organisations reject both the modernisation of the EU-Chile agreement and the European Commission’s attempt to propose an interim agreement in order to accelerate the conclusion of this FTA.
Eight reasons why we say NO to Chile-EU Free Trade Agreement
17-Nov-2023 Chile Mejor Sin TLC
It is absurd to consider Chile equal to the European Union in terms of industrialization, education, or access to economic and social rights, as the treaty does.
Free trade and debt: the two sides of neocolonialism
16-Nov-2023 bilaterals.org
Highlights from the workshop organised in Marrakesh by Attac Maroc, bilaterals.org, CADTM Africa, GRAIN and the Tunisian Observatory of Economy.
Energy giant RWE withdraws billion-euro claim against the Netherlands
15-Nov-2023 SOMO
German energy company RWE has announced its intention to withdraw its international arbitration proceedings against the Dutch state at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
Clive Palmer uses another trade agreement to sue Australia, again, for $A69 billion over refusal of Waratah coal mine permit
14-Nov-2023 AFTINET
Billionaire Clive Palmer is using the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism against Australia because the permits for a coal mining project were refused for environmental reasons, including their contribution to increased carbon emissions.
EU-Mercosur: the European Union’s dirty plastic secret
10-Nov-2023 Greenpeace
The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement is could be a disaster for the fight against plastic pollution.
It’s time to exit ISDS: 200+ labor, environment, and other civil society groups urge Biden to eliminate extreme corporate powers from existing trade pacts
3-Nov-2023 Public Citizen
The groups argue that removing ISDS — which has prioritized corporate rights over those of governments, people, and the planet — is needed to protect policies necessary for a clean energy transition.
To strengthen ties with countries in the Americas and deliver on climate, health, and democracy APEP goals, Pres. Biden should launch all-Americas exit of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) regime
30-Oct-2023 Rethink Trade
The Investor-State Dispute Settlement regime to date has generated $47 billion in pending corporate demands for taxpayer compensation in claims against the 12 APEP nations’ climate, health, and other public-interest policies.
UK at risk of lawsuits if Pacific trade deal not amended, warn civil society organisations and academics
25-Oct-2023 Global Justice Now
The UK faces “huge financial risk” of lawsuits if the Pacific trade deal is not amended, warn civil society organisations and academics in a joint letter published today.
IPEF negotiations: Maori demand direct representation and comprehensive protections for rights of Indigenous peoples
24-Oct-2023 AFTINET
Māori Indigenous peoples have said in the recently released Ngā Toki Whakarururanga position paper that they that they have been denied direct independent sovereign representation in negotiations in the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum.