5 May, 2022: The WTO Director General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has announced that she will share a previously leaked proposal for a limited waiver on COVID19 vaccine monopolies with the wider WTO membership, despite an absence of agreement between key countries.
As a voter, you deserve to know about the impacts of Australia’s secretive trade deals on your community. But previous governments have tried to hide the true cost of trade agreements from you and the parliament.
April 26, 2022: As voters, we deserve to know where Australia’s parties and politicians stand on issues of trade justice – because how our parliamentary representatives vote on trade can have major impacts on human rights, workers’ rights, and environmental sustainability.
April 21, 2022: AFTINET has called on the government to withdraw from trade negotiations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) until sustained improvements are demonstrated in human rights, labour rights, and women’s rights.
April 19, 2022: Following the signing of the Australia-UK Free Trade Deal (A-UKFTA), the UK Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC) has published a report that confirms the trade deal will lower environmental sustainability standards.
14 April, 2022: AFTINET has added its voice to an open letter addressed to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The letter, signed by more than 300 civil society organisations from across the globe, urges the leaders to reject the “unequal and inadequate” proposal on COVID19 medicine monopolies that has been leaked by the European Union (EU), and to stand firm on the original waiver proposal to the World Trade Organisation from India and South Africa.
Media Release, 11 April, 2022: The announcement of a ballot to be held on May 21 has left the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement hanging in the balance until a new parliamentary committee can be formed after the nation goes to the polls
April 11, 2022: The interim Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AIECTA) was announced on April 1 to selected media and the good news about increased agricultural exports was in the media before the text was signed and publicly released late on April 2. The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) announced an Inquiry but submissions and the inquiry are now delayed until after the election on May 21.
April 6, 2022: For the first time, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that climate action is being jeopardised by trade agreements which give global corporations the right to sue governments through clauses known as ‘Investor State Dispute Settlement’ mechanisms, or ISDS.