April 10, 2026: After eight years, the negotiations for the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement concluded on March 24. The text was not released, only government summaries of mostly good news stories about cheaper imports and more market access for Australian products to the EU. See our media release with preliminary comments here.

April 8, 2026: Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has announced the country’s intention to withdraw from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), following a high-profile open letter signed by more than 200 economists and legal scholars, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, urging Colombia to lead efforts to exit ISDS frameworks. This announcement comes before Colombia hosts the upcoming international conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels in Santa Marta later this month.

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                           

April 6, 2026

April 1, 2026: Australia and China are reviewing the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

The AFTINET submission provides a review of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement a decade after its entry into force. It recommends the government implement its policy to include commitments on environmental protection and climate action, labour rights, and the rights of women and Indigenous peoples.

April 1, 2026: Australia and Indonesia are reviewing the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IACEPA).

The AFTINET submission reviews the experience of Indonesia and Australia in the context of recent developments, advocating that Australia should implement its policy to support commitments on environmental protection and climate action, labour rights and the rights of women and Indigenous peoples in the IAECEPA . 

March 31, 2026: Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS), a global network of organisations and activists working for reform of the multilateral trading system to serve people and the planet, has given the following analysis of the World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference, which ended with its suspension on Sunday:

Today, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) ended in chaos, with the carefully curated MC14 outcome that seemed all but assured failing to cross the finish line.

March 30, 2026: Negotiations at the World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé have been formally suspended after members failed to bridge deep divisions over the future of the long-standing moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions.

March 28 2026: The global civil society network Our World Is Not For Sale says US and EU-led proposed changes to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules would weaken multilateral rules and marginalise developing countries. They call on WTO Ministers meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon to reject a ‘reform’ agenda that would fundamentally undermine the organisation's development mandate.

The network published a joint statement that warns that the reform agenda on the table would eliminate the WTO's non-discrimination principle, legitimise illegal US bilateral trade deals struck under threat of tariffs, and entrench a governance model that allows powerful economies to dictate terms to the rest of the world through club-based plurilateral agreements.

March 27, 2026: The New York Times reports that a draft US State Department memo says that the United States is considering significantly cutting HIV assistance to Zambia unless it agrees to expanded access for American firms to its critical mineral resources. For the roughly 1.3 million Zambians who rely on daily antiretroviral therapy, such a move would be catastrophic. Disruptions to HIV treatment can lead not only to preventable deaths but also to drug resistance and long-term setbacks in epidemic control. Zambia’s HIV response, though increasingly domestically supported, still depends heavily on external financing for medicines, supply chains, and prevention programs.

March 26, 2026: More than 200 economists and legal scholars, mostly from Europe and the Americas, have signed an open letter to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, calling on his government to spearhead an international effort to withdraw from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The open letter, signed by prominent figures such as Joseph Stiglitz and Thomas Piketty, notes the rare opportunity for Colombia to reshape global investment governance in line with climate goals.

ISDS, embedded in thousands of trade and investment treaties, including 18 signed by Colombia, allows foreign investors to sue governments before international arbitration tribunals if they believe their profits will be harmed by changes in national laws or policies, even if the change is in the public interest.