South African Customs Union Free Trade Agreement

March 1, 2006. James Love in the Huffington Post. Bush USTR head Bob Portman violates executive order that protects Africa from trade pressures on medicine patents.

NGO Documents

May 3, 2006. Kathy McNeely for Church World Service. Is the US Trade Agenda Coming Apart at the Seams?
October 4, 2004. 3D -> Trade - Human Rights - Equitable Economy. Victims of HIV/AIDS Should Not Suffer From Trade Rules.
February 4, 2004. Treatment Action Campaign and the AIDS Law Project. Memo to the South African International Trade Negotiating Team.
July 7, 2003. Essential Action, Africa Action, Doctor Without Borders/Medicins Sans Frontieres, Health GAP, Consumer Project on Technology, Global AIDS Alliance, Oxfam, and ACT-UP Paris Letter to President Bush requesting that IP be excluded from the US-SACU Free Trade Agreement.
July 7, 2003. Brook Baker for Health GAP. Health GAP Exposes Bush's Trade Objectives in Africa: Block Access to Generics.
March 21, 2003. Manon Ress, Consumer Project on Technology. Notes on US-SACU FTA at the Washington International Trade Association.

USTR Documents

USTR Page on the South African Customs Union FTA
April 19, 2006. Interview with Deputy USTR Karan Batia on US-SACU Negotiations.
June 30, 2004. Joint column written by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Botswanan Minsiter of Trade and Industry Jacob Nkate, and Merck CEO Raymond Gilmartin. Trade, Health and Africa's Future.
May, 2003. USTR. Comprehensive Report on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa and Implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act - Excerpt on TRIPS and Health.
November 4, 2002. Robert Zoellick. Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives which formally notifies Congress of the USTR's intention to negotiate the Free Trade Agreement. It says this about IPRs:
Our specific objectives for negotiations with the SACU countries are as follows...
Seek to establish standards that reflect a standard of protection similar to that found in U.S. law and that build on the foundations established in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs Agreement) and other international intellectual property agreements, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Other Documents

April 21, 2006. Inside U.S. Trade. U.S. Drops FTA With SACU.
April 21, 2006. Namibia Economist. US, SACU Trade Talks Proves Far-Fetched
March 28, 2006. New York Times editorial. Free Trade and AIDS Drugs.
November 23, 2004. Working paper by Tenu Avafia for the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa. The potential impact of US-SACU FTA negotiations on public health in southern Africa.
September 19, 2004. Lukanyo Mnyanda for the Johanesburg Sunday Times. Trade Talks Grind to a Halt.
October 20, 2003. John Frasier for Business Day. Sacu And US Ready for 'Real Trade Negotiations.'
July 11, 2003. Op-ed by Neva Makgetla in Business Day. Free-trade pact is full of dangers.
July 8, 2003. Jodie Ginsburg for Reuters. U.S. trade may help or hinder Africa development.
April 10, 2003. Bridges Weekly Trade Digest. US and SACU Set to Launch Trade Negotiations in Late May.
March, 2003. PhRMA Excerpt of Submission to the USTR for the 301 report listing its priorities for the US-SACU FTA.
January 15, 2003. Business Day. Trade pact will boost region - Erwin.
November 14, 2002. Bridges Weekly Trade Digest. USTR Proposes New FTA With South African Nations.
November 13, 2003. James Fisher-Thompson for the US Department of State International Information Program. U.S. Business Coalition Will Push for Southern African Trade Agreement.
August, 2003. Country profiles from the CIA World Factbook: