New PANAP/PCFS Report Online: Bilateral Free Trade and Investment Agreements and the US Corporate Biotech Agenda

Bilateral free trade agreements are seen by the agricultural biotechnology industry as an important conduit forspreading genetically modified organisms (GMOs) around the world. US agribusiness corporations are looking intobilateral and regional trade agreements 'to expand foreign understanding and acceptance of US regulations andstandards, particularly with respect to agricultural biotechnology.'

Meanwhile, the US Administration sees these agreements as useful political instruments to further its broadergeopolitical interests.

These bilateral trade negotiations are much less visible and can easily slip beneath the radar of NGOs and popularmovements that oppose the WTO. The business coalitions that are the biggest driving force behind bilateral freetrade and investment negotiations are quite open about their self-interest, and eager to keep upping the stakesand locking governments into even tougher standards to ensure expanded profit margins and monopoly control.Through bilateral agreements, they seek to stitch up from below what they have been unable to achieve 'so far' atthe WTO.

This Special Release on 'Bilateral Free Trade and Investment Agreements and the US Corporate Biotech Agenda' isresearched and written by Aziz Choudry, a New Zealand activist who has been following the negotiations ofbilateral free trade and investment agreements between the US and the countries in the South.

This issue is first of a series of Special Release published by the People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) andthe Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP). This publication aims to provide critical analyses and raiseawareness on Food Sovereignty issues.

Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific

http://www.panap.net People's Coalition on Food Sovereigntyhttp://www.foodsov.org Report can be now downloaded from:http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=4861