ISDS Case Map
Colombia
The foreign ministers of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) forged ahead in attempts to quiet fears of an imminent collapse of the bloc following Venezuela's withdrawal, despite member-country political differences that were all too evident at the regional summit.
Colombian Trade Minister Jorge Humberto Botero recognized Friday that negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US were not totally closed in February as it was said.
Colombia, fresh from reaching a free trade agreement with the United States, is now trying to eliminate trade barriers with Central America.
The Ministers of Health of ten South American countries issued a
joint declaration on intellectual property committing themselves to
avoid "TRIPS plus" provisions in bilateral and regional trade agreements,
to facilitate the use of compulsory licensing and parallel importing and to
avoid broadening the scope of patentability and the extension of
patentable areas.
Indigenous and campesino protests against the free trade deal that Colombia is negotiating with the United States drew a harsh military response from the government of rightwing President Álvaro Uribe, leaving an as yet unknown number of people dead, injured or missing. Even the ombudsman of the southwestern province of Nariño, Carlos Mario Aguirre, was hospitalised last Thursday.
Mexican officials said Monday they will seek a replacement for Venezuela after the South American nation decided to quit the G-3 trade pact.
President Hugo Chavez said Sunday Venezuela will pull out of a trade bloc with Colombia and Mexico, its latest move to abandon trade deals with countries that have free-trade pacts with the United States.
Switzerland and Colombia signed two agreements in Bern on 17 May 2006. The first was an agreement on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments between Switzerland and Colombia. The second was a Declaration on Cooperation between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Colombia.
When a Colombian top-level delegation travelled to Washington last week to supposedly resolve the contradictions between the Spanish and English versions of the FTA, they instead agreed to import aged US hens to Colombia. US poultry farmers regard those hens as waste, since they are sterile.
Farmers and members of indigenous tribes clashed on Tuesday with police during protests against a free-trade agreement with the US and the re-election of President Alvaro Uribe, and protest leaders said an Indian farmer was killed.
