GHY Tradelines

(New Europe)

The European Union has requested a World Trade Organization (WTO) investigation into Ontario’s renewable-energy legislation. The EU believes that the Ontario Green Energy and Economy Act (OGEA) is in breach of Canada’s WTO obligations, claiming that it is illegal to condition access to a subsidy to the use of domestic products.

The OGEA provides for the development of programmes to encourage the use of renewable energy and it allows for its purchase at an above-market price, which constitutes a subsidy. However, access to this programme is conditioned by the use of domestic products and services. Read more here.
 

(CBC News)

Canada has struck a free trade deal with Honduras. Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement Friday during a visit to the Central American nation.

But the deal is controversial. Honduras was kicked out of the Organization of American States after a military coup ousted the country’s leftist president in 2009. It has since been re-admitted after it held elections and allowed former president Manuel Zelaya to return. Harper is the first foreign leader to visit since the re-admission.

Critics say the country’s human rights record is still dismal and it has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Canadian mining companies have also been blamed for health problems among indigenous populations in Honduras. […]

Two-way trade between Canada and Honduras was worth $192 million in 2010. Canadian exports to Honduras were $40.8 million, while Canada imported $151.2 million worth of goods from the country, which is one of the poorest in the region.