Fairtrade – neither ‘fair’ nor ‘trade’?
As much as I'm resisting the urge to go all up in arms against the putatively humanistic and redistributive International Fairtrade movement, I can't help orthographically dissect the term "Fairtrade"…
NTBs major hindrance towards trade integration
Generally non-tariff barriers commonly known as NTBs are the restrictions resulting from explicit market requirements, conditions and prohibitions that make exportation or importation of products costly or difficult. These barriers…
Indonesia hopes rejoining Opec will help ease reliance on oil traders
Indonesia hopes its return to Opec in December will bring Asia's top gasoline importer closer to the world's main oil producers and ease its reliance on a small group of…
How the states obliterate rules of international trade
Under the GATT 1994 treaty, states are under an obligation to implement agreed conventions and agreements in order to provide free and unrestricted environment to promote the growth of international…
Dairy farmers milk politics of Pacific trade pact
New Zealand dairy farmers have a message for their Canadian counterparts, who worry that a Pacific trade deal will throw them on the mercy of world markets and devastate their…
Making trade a priority
OUR external account is our Achilles’ heel. Its importance cannot be overemphasised because of the need to finance our imports and service our debt-related obligations. A sustainable improvement in the…
New ‘Cape to Cairo’ free trade pact hailed as Africa milestone
The launch of a free trade agreement by three African economic blocs in Egypt this week will be an important step towards a potentially game-changing common market spanning the continent,…
Venezuela drug trade rings alarm bells
Hidden in a large ochre-colored container, the 1.4 tonnes of cocaine got past two dozen army checkpoints during a 500-mile journey from the Colombian border to the Venezuelan capital. The…
Simpleton’s handbook on international trade
Trade is an exchange between parties towards a mutually beneficial end; and trade generally occurs when one or more parties have a surplus of something, or needs something desperately enough…
Sri Lanka seeks to trademark cinnamon spice success
Ten years after the Asian tsunami devastated Sarath Kumara's cinnamon plantation in Sri Lanka, forcing him to start over with nothing, the farmer faces a new threat from further afield.…
