July 4, 2019: Sam Cossar from Friends of the Earth explains in The Ecologist why investor rights to sue governments when they act to protect people and the environment should be kept out of the RCEP and other trade deals.
July 3, 2019: Australian Academics Deborah Gleeson, Belinda Townsend and Brigitte Tenni have written an op-ed in Croaky about the risks that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership poses to public health in Australia and across the region.
July 3, 2019: AFTINET Convener Dr Patricia Ranald and Dr Deborah Gleeson from Latrobe University were interviewed about the RCEP by Philip Adams on ABC Radio National’s Late Night Live programme. This follows a report in the Melbourne Age and other Fairfax media about the letter to the Trade Minister from 52 community groups condemning the secrecy and harmful proposals in the RCEP negotiations.
July 1, 2019, Media Release:The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations between 16 countries continue in Melbourne behind closed doors. The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET) and other organisations* are hosting a Public Forum to discuss the social and environmental risks of the RCEP trade deal today at 6:30-8:30pm at Trades Hall, 54 Victoria Street, Carlton.
June 27, 2019: Fifty-two diverse community groups representing millions have written an open letter to the Trade Minister opposing damaging proposals in the RCEP.
June 25, 2019: A new report "Red carpet courts: 10 stories of how the rich and powerful hijacked justice" published by Friends of the Earth, the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) presents ten ISDS cases that have been filed, threatened or decided since 2015. The report aims to show the human stories behind these ISDS cases.
June 24 2019: Leaders of the ten ASEAN countries met in Bangkok on June 22 and urged support for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade and investment deal between ASEAN and India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. But community organisation advocates meeting before the ASEAN summit argued that the RCEP development model favours international investor interests over people and the environment.
June 19: Join us on Tuesday June 30 for an evening of delicious Turkish food, entertaining speakers and great company at our annual fundraising dinner. All proceeds will support AFTINET's trade justice campaigns.
June 12, 2019: A new study of trade and investment deals concluded in 2018 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) shows that most have either omitted ISDS altogether or severely limited its scope. This reflects growing concerns about ISDS cases based on older treaties that have no provisions to prevent or limit foreign investors from suing governments over health, environment and other public interest laws. The UN Commission on on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is currently conducting a review of ISDS based on such concerns which has prompted sharp debate.
June 5, 2019: President Trump has shocked Britain by declaring that the US would demand that NHS be opened up to privatisation by US health and pharmaceutical companies in post-Brexit negotiations for a US-UK free trade agreement.