Bilateral & Regional Trade

ALP Senators Report Contradictory Say Community Groups

7 February, 2004
Dr Patricia Ranald, Public Interest Advocacy Centre
'The report of the ALP members of the Senate Committee on the USFTA is contradictory, admitting it is a bad deal but still endorsing it,' - Dr Patricia Ranald

U.S., Australia Sign Free-trade Pact

7 February, 2004
MATTHEW DALY
The United States and Australia concluded a free-trade agreement Sunday that officials said will eliminate duties from more than 99 percent of American manufacturing exports to Australia.

S. Korea-Chile FTA Likely To Be Ratified

2 February, 2004
Yoo Dong-ho
Staff ReporterNational Assembly Speaker Park Kwan-yong on Tuesday agreed with party leaders to seek quick approval for several long-delayed bills, including those on the South Korea-Chile free trade agreement (FTA) and the dispatch of troops to Iraq.

Rising tide of trade to sink Pacific

Despite the interest in the lead up to the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Cairns, the decision to commence trade negotiations barely made a mention in the news in the wake of the meeting.

WTO Turnaround 2013: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Development First – Statement

After many failed Ministerial meetings and nearly twelve years of negotiations, the Doha Round of WTO expansion is at a crossroads. Developed countries have pushed aside agreements to negotiate on key developing country issues intended to correct the imbalances within the existing WTO, which formed the basis of the development mandate of Doha. Even worse, developed countries appear to be re-packaging the same liberalization and market access demands of their corporate interests to create a “new trade narrative” towards gaining agreements at the upcoming 9th Ministerial in Bali. In this statement with specific demands Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network asserts that in addition to a long-term transformation of the global trade and economic architecture, immediate changes must be made to WTO in order to provide countries more policy space to pursue a positive agenda for development and job-creation, food security, sustainable development, access to affordable healthcare and medicines, and global financial stability.