February 7, 2013 View all news The launch of Liberia Solidarity Group's ReportThe Free Trade Trap: Are EU policies trading justice for profit? Date: February 7th, 18.00 - 20.00Venue: Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre, 27- 31 Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin 1.This report will be received by Joe Costello, TD, Minister of State for Trade and Development and launched by Baronness Nuala O'Loan.Speakers:Hans Zomer, DochasSilas Siakor, Friends of the Earth, LiberiaJacinta Fay, Liberia Solidarity Group This report comes ahead of a meeting of EU Development Ministers to discuss major development issues such as the new global development framework. It illustrates the need for trade justice to be a central tenet of this framework and of the EU's engagement with the Global South. The report traces the effects of EU trade policies on development in the Global South highlighting how trade liberalisation can entrench poverty, destroy local economies and force local business and industry into a race to the bottom as they seek to compete with powerful transnational corporations. It report argues that a global trade system must prioritise justice, equity and rights, foster sustainable economies and operate for the benefit of people and the environment. It demonstrates how the Irish Government can use the platform of the Presidency of the EU to champion human rights and social justice in trade and development. The report is the first initiative of the Liberia Solidarity Group's Trade Justice campaign entitled 'Embedding Trade Justice in Development'. This campaign aims to ensure that human rights and ethical relationships are a cornerstone of Ireland's trade with the South and to raise awareness of and support engagement with EU trade policy issues during Ireland's presidency of the EU.