November 4, 2019: News reports over the weekend suggest that it is unlikely that Prime Ministers will announce the conclusion of the RCEP agreement at their meeting in Bangkok today. This comes after RCEP Trade Ministers were unable to reach agreement on all of the outstanding issues at a meeting on Friday.
October 31, 2019: A new article by Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute, argues against Australia signing free trade agreements that undermine our sovereignty. Denniss calls out the hypocrisy of the Morrison government that has ratcheted up populist rhetoric while signing up to agreements that grant excessive rights to international investors at the expense of the Australian community.
October 30, 2019: A new article by eco-stylist and sustainable fashion advocate, Nina Gbor, looks at the risk of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement for women. The article comes as Trade Ministers and Prime Ministers will convene in Bangkok on the weekend to try and finalise the deal, amid reports that negotiations could push over into the new year.
October 29, 2019: Media reports are suggesting that it is unlikely that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement will be finalised this year, with negotiations likely to continue on into 2020.
October 28, 2019: A new article by Rahul Nath Choudhury in the The Interpreter outlines concern, particularly amongst developing countries, about the inclusion of e-commerce provisions in trade agreements. Many developing country governments, and civil society organisations, are concerned that the e-commerce agenda is an attempt by the US to establish international rules that suit big tech companies from developed countries, locking developing countries out of the digital economy.
October 24, 2019: Read our new fact sheet on the impact that trade agreements can have on public health, including access to medicines, the way our health services are managed and our health warning labels.
October 23, 2019: A new article from Luciana Ghiotto, a researcher at CONICET and a contributor to the Transnational Institute, has identified how the public movement against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP-11) has contributed to this week’s nationwide protests, which have resulted in government repression and declaration of martial law.
October 21, 2019: Weekend media reported that union leaders have strongly criticised the ALP decision to approve the enabling legislation for the Indonesia, Hong Kong and Peru agreements.
October 17, 2019: Media Release “Labor has decided to approve the enabling legislation for the Indonesia, Hong Kong and Peru agreements despite the fact that they contain damaging provisions that are contrary Labor policies, in return for some fairly weak assurances from the government that may not be delivered,” AFTINET Convener Dr Patricia Ranald said today.
October 15, 2019: Chief negotiators are continuing to meet in Bangkok this week after last week’s RCEP Ministers’ meeting, intended to finalise the negotiations, failed to reach agreement on key provisions. Governments still say they are working to complete the agreement by the end of the year, but final agreement is proving difficult to achieve.