100 posts
Piercing ACTA armour
We have looked at the growing protests online and on the ground against the Anti-Counterfeiting (and much more) Trade Agreement ACTA. The anti-ACTA feelings run high, but there is also a need for deliberation on the official policies of ever more dr...
Growing ACTA protest online and on the ground
By now, more than 1.526 million netizens have signed the Avaaz.org petition for the European Parliament to reject #ACTA. The call is also directed at the parliaments in the EU member states, where most of the governments are preparing ratification. P...
De Gucht merits ACTA rejection
We learn, although not from the website of Karel De Gucht, but from La Quadrature du Net, that the EU trade commissioner has written a letter to the members of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) in the European Parliament, accusing civil soc...
ACTA Stipulates Increased Damages For File Sharing
”ACTA changes nothing” has become the favorite mantra of those who want to push the agreement through at any cost. This in itself is of course a strong signal that there is something very suspect about the whole issue. If ACTA really chan...
ACTA: ”Nu handlar det om att få ett nej i EU-parlamentet”
Sveriges Radios ”Alltid Nyheter” hade flera inslag om ACTA igår. Först intervjuade de Stefan Johansson, som är tjänstemannen på Justitiedepartementet som driver på för att få igenom ACTA, och därefter fick Henrik Alexandersson oc...
DN: Sverige skrev under Acta-avtalet
DN skriver: EU och 22 av medlemsländerna skrev på torsdagen under det omdiskuterade Acta-avtalet vid en ceremoni i Japan. ”Sverige har mörkat det här”, anser Christian Engström, piratpartist i EU-parlamentet. Läs mer hos DN...
ACTA signatures and content
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has published a note on the signing of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Mexican States, the...
Europe’s SOPA?
The European Parliament’s website has been shut down by hackers today, allegedly in a denial-of-service attack from Anonymous in protest of imminent anti-piracy legislation restricting internet freedom. But as the IT folks in parliament scramble to...
ACTA in European Parliament committees: Legal Affairs (JURI)
After the roundup of ACTA blog posts in Finnish, Swedish or English on Grahnlaw Suomi Finland, IPR trade protection: ACTA controversy, I have published two recent updates about the agreement in the European Union: Grahnlaw (EN): ACTA update (in par...
ACTA in European Parliament committees: International Trade and Development
Yesterday I offered some information about the state of ACTA in the institutions of the European Union: ACTA update (in part). Now for some complementary information. INTA The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is the responsible committee in t...
ACTA update (in part)
In October 2011 I wrote a blog post Greens challenge ACTA legality. The two proposals from the Commission (DG Trade) had been published in June. They are: Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the European Union of the Anti-Co...
Where is Doha these days? Not the city, the round!
Has anyone heard anything recently of the WTO Doha Round? Has it been lost somewhere in the ocean (Pacific or Atlantic)? Many many months ago, it was announced that the 10 year old round of WTO talks looked most unlikely to conclude and that a "Doh...
Free what? The myth of (WTO) "free trade"
WTO trade is free-er world trade compare to some decades ago. Not free. Tariffs are allowed especially by developing countries and the BRICs plus most countries of the WTO have hidden/tricky barriers to trade (imports). Especially the pro free trade...
How balanced is globalisation in 2012?
World wide web, global social media, global finance, global warming, world trade. Where is the world/global parliament?NickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
ACTA is Borderline on Fundamental Rights — At Best
Yesterday in the Legal Affairs Committee JURI in the European Parliament, we had an exchange of views on the ACTA agreement. Last week we got a Legal Opinion on ACTA, and in particular its compatibility with European fundamental rights, from the parl...
European Union versus SOPA and Protect IP Act?
The European Parliament took a stand against the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill debated in the US House of Representatives and its sister, the Protect IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intell...
Key discussions before the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference
Senior trade officials from ACP member countries have participated in two days of discussions in preparation for key meetings within the coming weeks. According to Paulo Kautoke, ACP Assistant Secretary General and Head of the Macroeconomics, Develop...
WTO: 13 ACP countries allowed to maintain export subsidies
The WTO’s Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures allowed 13 ACP countries to maintain their export subsidies programmes until the end of 2012. The beneficiary countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Repu...
New Commission study on impacts of Doha Round
New study suggests the EU along with China would be the major winner from a conclusion of the Doha Round negotiations, with limited impacts expected for EU agriculture.
Hard times ahead for Caribbean sugar
The Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC) has been buoyed by a large crop this year, but a recent proposal by the European Union to abolish domestic quotas would likely cut into preferential sugar exports by the SAC and other sugar associations...
190 million EUR allocated to ACP banana exporters until 2013
Ten ACP countries are to benefit from a total of 190 million EUR as part of a temporary programme (2010-2013) of accompanying measures in the banana sector. This compromise was reached after long negotiations between the European Parliament, the C...
WTO working party adopts Samoa’s membership package
On 28 October 2011, the Working Party on Samoa’s accession cleared the path for its WTO membership by approving the accession package which spells out Samoa’s terms of accession. The Working Party agreed to forward Samoa’s accession package...
No EU permit for South African dairy products
In a statement published in allAfrica.com, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) corrected a media statement issued on 16 September 2011, in which exporters were invited to apply for a permit to export the following agricult...
EU grants available for Caribbean food exporters
The Caribbean Export Development Agency is offering European Union-funded aid of up to $3.6 million per applicant for food exporters who need help improving food-safety standards. The money is sourced from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF)...
New EU study shows significant economic benefits from a Doha deal
A study published last week shows that the economic benefits arising from the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations in the World Trade Organisation amount to an increase of world exports of $359 billion on an annual basis from a deal on t...
Commission welcomes Vanuatu's accession to the WTO
The General Council of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) cleared the way for the WTO accession of Vanuatu, one of the 14 island states in the Pacific. The European Commission welcomes this development which will bring the number of WTO member cou...
IPR protection: ACTA opinions USA and EU
After the signing ceremony blog post ACTA signed – EU deaf-mute and arguments by proponents in IPR protection in world trade: ACTA signed, we turn to recent and varied opinions about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the quest for...
ACTA signed – EU deaf-mute
According to The Mainichi Daily News the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was signed today, Saturday 1 October 2011, at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo, by most of the eleven international partners. Through the web pages of the Ministry o...
The Council of Ministers discusses Doha
The 3112th Council meeting on Foreign Affairs/Trade held in Brussels, 26 September 2011 took stock of developments in multilateral trade negotiations under the WTO's Doha Development Agenda, in preparation for the WTO's eighth ministerial conferen...
European Parliament supports coordinated policies for fair trade
The European Parliament has adopted a Resolution ‘on a New Trade Policy for Europe under the Europe 2020 Strategy’ in response to the European Commission proposal on new EU trade policy. Within this resolution, the European Parliament has clea...
European Parliament: Caspary and De Gucht debated new trade policy for Europe (EU2020)
You can now read the 27 September 2011 debate about the new trade policy for Europe under the Europe 2020 strategy (item 4), posted by the European Parliament in the original languages of the speakers. We look at some of the main points made by two o...
EP wants new trade strategy for Europe under EU2020
The press service of the European Parliament tells us the Result of votes Tuesday 27 September 2011. We see that the INTA report, prepared by Daniel Caspary (EPP, DE), on a New trade policy for Europe under the Europe 2020 strategy (A7-0255/2011; pro...
EU trade policy review
After the blog entry EU trade ministers ponder comatose WTO Doha Development Round, followed by two posts in Swedish, Vill EU bryta dödläget i WTO:s Doharunda? and EU:s nya handelspolitik i Europa 2020-strategin, we leave the European Parliament de...
UK: Retailers targeted by cotton made in Africa
The Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative, which now reaches 1.6m people in five countries according to a new study, is teaming up with an ethical consultancy to try to boost its uptake by UK retailers. Cotton made in Africa works in five African...
Alert To Activists: Customs Enforcement of IPR
A very worrying proposal called ”Customs enforcement of intellectual property rights” has arrived from the EU Commission, and will be handled by the European Parliament this autumn. It is an attempt to introduce by the Commission to expan...
Ghana: Civil society organisations intensify fight against EPAs
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) across the country have intensified their fight against the Economic Partnership Agreements saying they are inimical to the long-term development aspirations of the nation. For the second time in a month, civil so...
Belgium: Fair trade week from 5 to 15 October
The Belgian Cooperation is celebrating Fair Trade Week 2011 from 5 to 15 October. On 5 October, it will st art a brand new Fair Trade Week campaign. With the slogan “Replace from now on 1 product by 1 fair trade product!”, the Belgian Cooperat...
EU sugar refiners want EU to abolish duty on sugar imports
The European Union should abolish a 98 euros ($137) a metric ton duty on sugar imports from a group of countries including Brazil and Australia to ensure refiners have “fair access” to raw materials, an industry group said. The EU suspended th...
