News and Publications
In Brief
Discuss this publicationShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say
European Commission adopts support package for ACP banana producing countries
The European Commission has formally proposed a €190 million support package for ACP countries to help offset the impact of a WTO trade deal on bananas. The 17 March announcement by the European Commission follows the so-called Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas - a December 2009 deal between the EU, Latin American Countries and the United States that ended a long dispute about the preferential access granted to ACP banana exporters to the EU market. The €190 million “Banana Accompanying Measures” (BAM) will provide support for investments aimed at boosting competitiveness; encouraging economic diversification; and addressing broader social, economic and environmental impacts. The money will go to ten main ACP banana-exporting countries: Belize, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.
Details of EU FTAs with Colombia and Peru revealed
New details have emerged about the trade deals that the EU initialed with Colombia and Peru in February, and which are set to be signed by heads of state at a summit in Madrid in May. In the case of Peru, 95 percent of the country’s agricultural products and 99.3 percent of all Peruvian exports will enter the EU duty free once the trade deal takes effect. In return, Peru will fully liberalise 80 percent of the industrial products that it imports from the EU. Colombia, meanwhile, has promised to eliminate tariffs on 65 percent of the same products. Colombia expects that the deal will increase its exports in sectors such as leather goods, textiles and garments, plastics, glassware and fishery products. For its part, the EU will get preferential treatment for a number of its exports to Colombia, including processed pork products, liquor, milk powder, cheese, cars, capital goods, intermediate goods and some inputs.
EU holds conferences on trade and development
The European Commission convened a conference on 16 March to discuss how to maintain the effectiveness of the EU’s General System of Preferences (GSP), which grants preferential tariffs to developing countries. European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht announced at the conference that the European Commission is launching a public consultation on the GSP, which will feed into proposal to the European Parliament and Council on an updated GSP regulation. Presentations made by experts and background documents from the EU Trade Policy towards Developing Countries conference are available at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=512
Intellectual Property Rights book explores development link
A new book offers insights into the international regime governing intellectual property rights (IPRs), an area in which developing countries have come under pressure to reform and to become more vigilant regarding the protection and enforcement. Focused on three themes - development, sustainable development and diversity - and featuring contributions from a wide-range of experts, Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development: Development Agendas in a Changing World considers a number of new and emerging IP issues from a development perspective. Case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America examine the impact of IP on the pharmaceutical sector, the protection of life forms and traditional knowledge, geographical indications, access to knowledge and the role of competition policy. The challenges developing countries face in the TRIPS-Plus world are also addressed.
More information is available at http://ictsd.org/i/trade-and-sustainable-development-agenda/71019/
Add a comment
Enter your details and a comment below, then click Submit Comment. We’ll review and publish the best comments.