ISDS Case Map
agriculture | farmers | food
plus livestock, forestry, etc
A handful of local residents will wrap up a three-day fast tomorrow to draw attention to the global food crisis, saying Americans need to re-evaluate the food policies supported by their government and international financial organizations. They say free-trade agreements and related policies have decimated local farming in the United States and around the world and have contributed to the current food shortage.
Downtown Seoul saw massive demonstrations by farmers against the Korea-US free trade agreement and import of US beef on Thursday with some 8,000 farmers from 42 groups nationwide including the Hanwoo Association
Prime Minister Helen Clark will push for closer economic ties when she holds talks today with her Japanese counterpart Yasuo Fukuda today.
A court ruled on Friday that if fliers and large placards are involved or political slogans are chanted during an event, it cannot be seen purely as a “cultural event.”
“At a remote ranch named Adams in Nebraska, there were some 80,000 cattle. About 3 kilometers away from the ranch, a nasty smell greeted my nose. Kept in corrals, the cattle tumbled about in their own excrement and urine. Still, the animals were given food containing animal parts. Antibiotics and growth hormone were essential for breeding them.”
Not everyone was disappointed when the Doha round of trade talks got bogged down in endless wrangling. After all, the United States and the European Union were pushing developing countries to liberalise their economies still further, while refusing to abolish their own agricultural subsidies. Better no trade deal than a bad one, or so we thought.
President Lee Myung-bak renewed Thursday his pledge to prioritize the health of the Korean people in his government's policy to restart U.S. beef imports, accusing opponents of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement of spreading groundless fears of mad cow disease.
South African taxpayers may have to pay millions of rands in compensation for the government's failure to act in Zimbabwe when hundreds of white-owned farms belonging to South Africans were confiscated in 2000.
South Koreans opposing the government's decision to import most US beef cuts vowed to continue candlelight vigils later Tuesday despite a police warning to stay away from political rallies.
Australia's free trade talks with Japan are moving forward on Japanese lines. Four days of talks in Canberra have ended with promising offers on services and investment, and progress in all areas - except agriculture.
