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News from the movements

NGOs urge European Parliament to postpone consent to EU-Vietnam trade deals
5-Feb-2020 Human Rights Watch
Despite Vietnam’s failure to meaningfully meet repeated requests for human rights improvements, a large majority in the International Trade Committee (INTA) voted in favour of granting swift consent to the agreements.
Post-Brexit EU-UK trade deal based on CETA would be bad news
3-Feb-2020 CEO
The EU-UK trade talks begin with the UK objective to use the corporate-friendly EU-Canada agreement CETA as a template. This is not a good start for democracy nor the public interest.
The China trade deal: Phase one of what for US farmers?
3-Feb-2020 IATP
What does what we know of the so-called Phase One deal mean for US agribusiness exports to China and, down the value chain, for US farmers?
Letter from Africa CSOs and trade unions to African delegates at the UNCITRAL round
31-Jan-2020
We civil society organizations and trade unions from the African continent express our concerns about the proposal presented by the European Union to establish a multilateral investment court and support further reaching reforms of ISDS.
The bully in the lunchroom: The US moves to weaken Mexico’s new junk food labeling law
30-Jan-2020 IATP
Even though US negotiators were forced by public opposition to remove language explicitly banning front-of-package graphic labels from New NAFTA, other provisions of concern remain in the trade deal.
CETA: Rights for Canadian multinationals
28-Jan-2020 SOMO
CETA strengthens the legal position of North American companies in the EU and exposes European governments and taxpayers to potential claims.
Blueprint for a human rights impact assessment of the planned comprehensive free trade agreement between EFTA and Mercosur
24-Jan-2020 Alliance Sud
This study assesses the impact of the EFTA-Mercosur free trade agreement on access to medicines, indigenous rights and women rights.
Civil society raises concerns about UK-Morocco trade
24-Jan-2020 Western Sahara Campaign UK
Civil society organisations raise human rights concerns as UK seeks to roll over Morocco association agreement without due attention to the ongoing Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.
New study on Mercosur: A bad deal for climate and environment
16-Jan-2020 Anna Cavazzini
The Mercosur agreement damages the environment, climate and small farmers.
Understanding the European Union’s understanding on computer and related services
15-Jan-2020 Third World Network
If adopted on a wide scale, the Understanding would consolidate power and control over the digital ecosystem, including of data, in the major powers and more specifically, their corporations.
“A la carte” justice for transnational corporations?
13-Jan-2020 CCFD-Terre Solidaire
At a time when 3,400 trade and investment agreements protect the interests of transnational corporations, there is no international treaty requiring them to uphold human rights and environmental protection.
How ISDS corporate privileges risk to undermine community struggles
9-Jan-2020 CEO
Inspiring people fought toxic gold mines, dirty oil drilling and greedy luxury real estate projects. Now, costly investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) lawsuits risk to reverse their community victories.
Beyond repair? The Energy Charter Treaty
16-Dec-2019 FOEE
An obscure investment agreement, the Energy Charter Treaty, threatens to undermine bold climate action to transform Europe’s energy system.
We’re still waiting for a trade deal that benefits working people
13-Dec-2019 UE
The proposed replacement of NAFTA remains a tool for corporate interests and provides insufficient relief to address the problems for working people embedded in the original agreement.
Civil society declaration – Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements: the mirage of the evaluation study
13-Dec-2019 FTDES
The evaluation is highly unsatisfactory due to: the economic methodology imposed by the EU; civil society not sufficiently involved; social, economic and environmental impacts not taken into account.
New NAFTA is lost opportunity to reform corporate trade deals
12-Dec-2019 IATP
Deal does not address the farm crisis, but will exacerbate climate crisis and jeopardize health and public safety.
Trump’s NAFTA 2.0: An environmental failure
12-Dec-2019 Sierra Club
An assessment suggests the revised deal would perpetuate NAFTA’s environmental damage.
Redo of USMCA better than original NAFTA after yearlong effort to improve Trump’s 2018 deal
11-Dec-2019 Public Citizen
The new NAFTA is not the template for future agreements, but establishes the floor from which we will continue to advocate for a new model of trade and globalization that puts people and the planet first.
Leading environmental groups urge Congress to oppose a pro-polluter NAFTA 2.0
10-Dec-2019 Sierra Club
The renegotiated NAFTA fails to meet the baseline standards for environmental and climate protection that the environmental community has consistently called for.
Open letter on the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)
9-Dec-2019 ECT’s Dirty Secrets
We – 278 environmental, climate, consumer, development, and trade related civil society groups, as well as trade unions – believe that the ECT is incompatible with the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.