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New bilateral investment treaty model
13-Mar-2015 Dawn
The Board of Investment is working on Pakistan’s own template of a bilateral investment treaty, which will replace the existing treaties with different countries. And all the future ones will be negotiated on the new template.
Oil giants win $17M from Ottawa under NAFTA
13-Mar-2015 The Star
ExxonMobil and Murphy Oil awarded $17.3 million in damages from Canada in investor-rights dispute over research and training funding in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Gov’t mulls profit-sharing scheme for FTA-hit farmers
13-Mar-2015 Yonhap
South Korea’s agriculture ministry said Friday that it is considering requiring firms that benefit from the country’s free trade agreements (FTAs) to share some of their profits to help make up for losses suffered by farmers, which has led to strong opposition from the business circle.
India pushes for Comprehensive Economic Partnership with Sri Lanka
13-Mar-2015 Business Standard
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured Sri Lanka that it will take steps to address the concerns arising out of the two-way merchandise trade between both neighbours even as he pitched for having a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Pakistan rejects US draft of investment treaty
13-Mar-2015 Express Tribune
Pakistan has rejected the United States’ proposed draft of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the two countries, saying the acceptance of the US template would carry ‘dangerous obligations’ for the country.
Hong Kong seeks to expand trade partnership with Indonesia
13-Mar-2015 Customs Today
Hong Kong, the world’s 10th largest trading economy, is seeking to expand its partnership both in trade and services with the Indonesian private sector to support a free-trade agreement (FTA) currently under negotiation.
Push against investment rules in US trade deals picks up
12-Mar-2015 Reuters
Law professors from across the United States urged lawmakers to keep rules to protect foreign investors out of trade pacts on Wednesday, warning they would give big companies too much power.
Australia scores ’most favoured nation’ provisions in FTA with China
12-Mar-2015 SMH
Trade Minister Robb says that Australia "will automatically receive the same treatment provided by China to any other country in the future including the EU and the United States."
German industry slashes estimates of benefits of US trade deal
12-Mar-2015 AFP
German industry federation BDI has been forced to slash its estimate of the economic benefits for Europe of a proposed US-EU free trade pact by a factor of 10, it conceded Wednesday.
US Ambassador confirms patent linkage under FTA includes biologics
11-Mar-2015 Heesob’s IP Blog
The US Ambassador Lippert has sent a letter to the Korean Minister of Food and Drug Safety requesting protection of biologics under the patent linkage system. He also confirmed that the US seeks the same protection in TPP.
Unions to fight trade pact by freezing political donations
11-Mar-2015 Wall Street Journal
Dozens of major labor unions plan to freeze campaign contributions to members of Congress to pressure them to oppose fast-track trade legislation sought by President Barack Obama , according to labor officials.
Focus on private sector: Washington rules out trade agreement with Islamabad
11-Mar-2015 Express Tribune
US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker finally admitted publicly that the Obama administration no longer has the ability to get legislative approval for any trade agreements with Pakistan, and hence is focusing on getting more US businesses to invest in Pakistan.
Time for Menendez to stand against TPP for the sake of Latinos nationwide
11-Mar-2015 Roll Call
The TPP would displace 1.2 million workers across Mexico and the Caribbean and nearly 170,000 in the US, according to Mary O’Rourke, an industry analyst.
China, Georgia start feasibility study on FTA
11-Mar-2015 Xinhua
China and Georgia have agreed to set up a joint working group to study the feasibility of a free trade agreement, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
East Africa wants deal with non-EU countries
11-Mar-2015 HortiBiz
The East African Community (EAC) wants to expand its European market for horticultural products (flowers, vegetables and fruits) through a new trade partnership with Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
TTIP must not allow companies to sue EU countries for environmental laws, say MPs
10-Mar-2015 The Guardian
A major free trade deal should not allow US companies to sue European nations when they pass environmental laws that hurt their profits, MPs in the UK said on Tuesday.
TiSA - EU negotiating mandate (2013)
10-Mar-2015 EU
As published by the European Council on 10 March 2015
Trade in services agreement: negotiating mandate made public
10-Mar-2015 European Council
The Council decided on 10 March 2015 to declassify the mandate given to the Commission to negotiate an international agreement on trade in services.
LN: Czech state hampers EU-Georgia deal over firm’s interests
10-Mar-2015 Czech News Agency
The Czech Foreign Ministry has been using the association agreement between the European Union and Georgia as an instrument of pressure exerted on the Georgian authorities in order to protect the investments of the Czech Energo-Pro firm, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes Monday.
EFTA, Mercosur moot free trade agreement
10-Mar-2015 Tax-News.com
The European Free Trade Association (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela) have agreed to initiate an exploratory dialogue with a view to possible future trade negotiations, EFTA said.