May 13, 2019: Imagine there’s a new government elected on May 18, say a Labor government that relies on Green and Centre Alliance support in the Senate. AFTINET convenor Dr Patricia Ranald explains how bad rules in trade agreements could threaten the implementation of progressive policies on TAFE and climate change.
May 7, 2019: AFTINET's analysis of political parties’ international trade policies has been published on the Peals and Irritations blog.
May 1, 2019: Read AFTINET's new explainer on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership - a dangerous trade agreement that the Australian government is negotiating with 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Monday, March 18, 2019: Third World Network Researcher Prathibha Sivasubramanian has pointed out the strong policy clash between India and leaked chapters in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership over medicine patents and investor rights to sue governments (ISDS). She urged India’s government to stand by its policies.
March 5, 2019: Forty-one Indian farmer and civil society organisations have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressing that India should not agree to proposals on intellectual property (IP) on seeds and plants at the on-going Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019: Members of SERUNI women’s organization, Front Perjuangan Rakyat (FPR), Papuan Student Alliance, and People Over Profit-Indonesia yesterday confronted the 25th meeting of the Trade Negotiating Committee of the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement at The Westin Resort, Bali Indonesia. See video here.
February 19, 2019: “Secret talks for a mega-trade deal between Australia and 15 Asia-Pacific countries that will cover half the world’s population will resume this week in Bali. While global corporations dominate the agenda, civil society groups and parliaments have been marginalized. The public and parliament will not see the text until after the deal has been signed,” AFTINET Convener Dr Patricia Ranald said today.
December 16, 2018 Dr Patricia Ranald outlined AFTINET's vision for trade justice at a fringe event at the ALP conference,.
13 December 2018: A recent study by think-tank Third World Network into India’s “free” trade deals with Japan, South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has increased India’s trade deficit, reports Hindu Business Line. In other words, there are more imports to, and less exports from India.
10 December 2018: Food and agriculture specialist Devinder Sharma warns in The Tribune last week that the Indian Government must keep agriculture out of RCEP trade deal.
Sharma warns that the RCEP deal will lead to a flood of cheaper food imports to India, and is particularly risky at a time when Indian agriculture is in crisis.