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8 January 2003
Contents:
- Churches launch global campaign on trade and human rights
- US bilateral FTA talks with Central America start in January
- US-Australia Free Trade Agreement due to get underway in first half of 2003
- Reminder about submissions to DFAT by 15 January 2003
1. Churches launch global campaign on trade and human rights
Uniting Church and Ecumenical News, 9 December 2002
A global network of churches and related organisations
launched a three-year "Trade for people, not people for trade" campaign on
December 10 - International Human Rights Day. The campaign - launched by the Ecumenical
Advocacy Alliance (EAA) - will press for international human rights, social, and
environmental agreements to take precedence over trade agreements and policies. The
Alliance is a global network of more than 85 churches, development agencies, and related
organisations on all continents, including the World Council of Churches (WCC),
representing a constituency of hundreds of millions of people.
The campaign will advocate for:
- trade rules that recognise the right to food, ensure
sustainable agriculture and food security for all, and promote greater self-reliance in
developing countries;
- global and national trade policies and rules that guarantee
access for all to essential services, based on human rights principles; and
- regulation of transnational corporations (TNCs) to ensure
that they contribute to poverty eradication, promotion of human rights, and the protection
of the environment.
For more information on the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
and the Trade for People campaign, see http://www.e-alliance.ch/trade.htm
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2. US bilateral FTA talks
with Central America start in January
Inside US
Trade, 3 January 2003
The Bush Administration will kick off its bilateral trade
initiatives this year by formally launching negotiations with five Central American
countries in the second week of January, during a visit to Washington by the trade
ministers of those countries - El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
That formal launch during the ministers' Jan 8-9 visit will
be followed by negotiating sessions in late January in San Jose, Costa Rica. The two sides
envision ten negotiating sessions to take place during the course of 2003, and the office
of US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick says it will aim to complete that agreement by
the end of the year.
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3. US-Australia Free Trade
Agreement due to get underway in first half of 2003
Inside US
Trade, 3 January 2003
Talks on a free trade agreement with Australia will get
underway in the first half of 2003, likely slightly behind the Central America and Morocco
negotiations because of the timing with which those negotiations were notified to
Congress. The Administration will be in a position to formally launch the talks any time
after Feb 11, which is 90 days after Zoellick's Nov 13 notification to congressional
committees of his intent to enter into negotiations with Australia. Under last year's
fast-track law, the office of US Trade Representative (USTR) must notify Congress of its
intent to negotiate a trade agreement 90 days before it enters into negotiations.
USTR has not specified a timeframe in which it would like
to complete a U.S.-Australia FTA, but Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley
last month held out the possibility that it may take longer than the end of 2004 to
conclude an agreement (Inside U.S.Trade, Dec 20, p 18).
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4. Reminder about
submissions to DFAT by 15 January 2003
A final reminder
about the call for submissions by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the
proposed Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States. Submissions are due
on 15 January, and details are listed in Bulletin No 49. A
background paper on the Australia-United States FTA proposal, including information on
issues that might be covered in an agreement, and studies on the benefits and implications
of an Australia-US FTA, is available via DFAT's website at: www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us.html
Submission enquiries:
Ph: (02) 6261 2019/1811
Fax: (02) 6261 3514
Submissions may be lodged electronically at us.fta@dfat.gov.au or by post at the following
address:
US FTA Task Force
Office of Trade Negotiations
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
BARTON ACT 0221
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