ISDS Case Map
CAFTA
US - Central America Free Trade Agreement
The Senate is set to modify the General Concessions Law so the Dominican Republic adheres to its commitments in the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Central America.
Costa Rica's Supreme Elections Tribunal has set Sept. 23 as the tentative date for a nationwide popular vote on the controversial Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).
Prices of articles included in the free trade agreement between the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States, DR-CAFTA, which is already in effect have not come down. If anything, they have increased. Small businesses are claiming that wholesale prices are more expensive.
Canadian exporters are facing discrimination in Latin America and elsewhere because of exclusive trade pacts the United States has with those countries, Trade Minister David Emerson has complained.
A lawyer expert in trade said that while the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. and Central America (DR-CAFTA) protects professional services via a law that governs them, such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, speakers and television hosts, work in the media can be exerted by any foreigner, because the law that governs it doesn't demands the condition of Dominican or an affiliation with any union.
For those who do not know it, it is at the very least paradoxical that it was precisely President Oscar Arias, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and impassioned defender of “democracy,” who attempted to block a citizens' initiative that would approve the convening of a referendum to decide on the Costa Rican people's approval or not of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
Costa Rican deputies who oppose a free trade agreement with the US demanded on Monday a consultation about the project before holding a binding referendum to solve the controversy over the issue.
The call for a referendum in Costa Rica to decide on the future of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States has unleashed a hotly-debated controversy on the issue, which has marked political life here over the last three years, the AFP reports.
This 2005 report describes efforts by the US sugar
industry to influence US policy on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in the last 5-10 years, including
tracking money spent on lobbying, identifying and summarizing papers and studies by the industry
to support its position, and providing a description of the industry's connections to policymakers.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Saturday announced that he will submit to the Legislative Assembly a proposal for a direct referendum over free trade agreement with the US.
