ISDS Case Map
Colombia
EU ministers from member states' Fishing and Agriculture Ministries agreed to allow modifications that will enable the European Union to negotiate association agreements and business deals on a bilateral level with Colombia and Peru instead of having to deal with the entire Community of Andean Nations (CAN) as a bloc
Double standards are being applied in the way that the European Union awards trade preferences to poor countries, an African exporters grouping has alleged.
Broad sectors in Colombian society are beginning to understand that accusations by human rights organizations against the Uribe government were not exaggerated.
The Harper government pretends that the Colombian Free Trade agreement will advance the human rights agenda in Colombia. But essentially, here is what would happen: in case of abuse, a small fine would be levied by the Canadian government which the Colombian government would then pay to itself.
The European Union has decided to push ahead with plans to secure a free trade agreement with Colombia despite the widespread abuse of labour rights in that country.
Not a government to fail to live up to its reactionary commitments, the Tories signed Canada's free trade agreement with Colombia on November 21st. The signing is the culmination of the Tory government's aggressive campaign to reach a trade deal with the human-rights troubled Andean country. Prime Minister Harper first announced his government's intention to get a deal with Colombia during his state visit there in July, 2007. Sixteen months and three high-level cabinet-minister visits later, and voila!, mission accomplished.
Free-trade critics picked up more than two dozen House seats and at least six Senate seats in the Nov. 4 election, a shift that could further endanger proposed free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has joined with other labour and human rights organizations in condemning the Harper government's approval of a free-trade deal with Colombia. The union is urging MPs in Ottawa to reject the tentative deal.
Colombian indigenous took their protest to Colombia's capital Bogotá this weekend. Their struggle is about controlling the land in which they have lived and taken care of for hundreds of years.
KAIROS calls on the government of Canada to conduct a Human Rights Impact Assessment before proceeding any further.
