For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. Please bear in mind that dates and times of WTO meetings are often changed, and that the WTO does not always announce the important informal meetings of the different bodies.
Coming up in the next two weeks
16-21 November, Miami, USA: EIGHTH MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT OF THE AMERICAS (FTAA). For further information, contact: Miami FTAA, tel: (+305) 375-3734; fax: 375-5310; email: F...@miamidade.gov; Internet: http://www.miamiftaa2003.com/. ICTSD in collaboration with its partner organisations will provide daily updates of the meetings in Miami, USA. The updates will be provided in Spanish, English and Portuguese and will focus on delivering news from the negotiations and other activities around the Ministerial as they relate to trade and sustainable development. To receive PUENTES Diario de Miami via email, please send a blank email to puentes@ictsd.ch indicating "Miami" and your preferred language in the subject line.
17-21 November, Geneva, Switzerland: PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR UNCTAD XI. Organised by UNCTAD, this meeting will be held at the Palais des Nations. In the morning of 17th November, civil society will be invited to report on a civil society meeting convened by the UNCTAD Secretariat in October 2003. UNCTAD XI will be held from 13-18 June 2003 in Sao Paolo, Brazil and is seen as an opportunity for tackling the most pressing developmental challenges confronting developing countries. For further information, contact: Amel Haffouz, email: amel.haffouz@unctad.org; Internet.
17-18 November, Johannesburg, South Africa: GLOBAL FORUM ON INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT: Encouraging Modern Governance and Transparency for Investment- Why and How. Organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This conference will be the third annual meeting of the OECD Global Forum on International Investment, a forum for policy dialogue among OECD members, non-members and other stakeholders. The meeting will consider how modern, transparent governance can help countries to attract and benefit from foreign investment. For further information, contact: Kaveri Bopiah Liverani, tel: (+33 1) 4525-9369; fax: 4430-6135; email: kaveri.bopiah-liverani@oecd.org; Internet: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/1/6/4409911.pdf.
17-20 November, Wilton Park, West Sussex, UK: CLIMATE CHANGE: WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN NORTH AND SOUTH? Organised by the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and LEAD International. This conference will discuss the next step in the Kyoto process, mitigation targets needed for the coming commitment period, whether the US and major greenhouse gas emitters among transition and developing nations can be drawn in, what role there is for alternative energy and nuclear power, and what external actors and national governments can do to help entire societies soften the impacts through adaptation strategies. For further information, contact: David Grace, email: davidgrace@insideeurope.fsnet.co.uk; tel: (+44 1) 4606-7368; Internet: http://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/web/conferences/wrapper.asp?confref=WP730.
17-19 November, Miami, US: AMERICAS TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FORUM (ATSDF). Organised by the North South Centre, University of Miami. Preceding the FTAA Ministerial, the ATSDF will convene workshops, panels and roundtables to discuss social, economic, political and practical concerns relating to trade liberalisation in the Americas. For further information, contact: nscenter@miami.edu; Internet: http://www.miami.edu/nsc/pages/FTAA.html.
17-21 November, Paris, France: JOINT FAO/WHO FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAMME: CODEX COMMITTEE ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES. Organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Items on the agenda include: matters referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, including the Joint FAO/WHO evaluation of the Codex Alimentarius and other FAO and WHO work on food standards, the review of the principles concerning the participation of international non-governmental organizations in the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other proposals to facilitate standard development will be presented. For further information, contact: the FAO, fax: (+39 06) 5705-3152; email: FAO-HQ@fao.org; Internet: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ccgp19/gp19_01e.htm
17-21 November, Rome, Italy: FAO/WHO EXPERT CONSULTATION ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED ANIMALS, INCLUDING FISH. This event is organised by FAO and WHO. Its purpose is to review and analyse data on the current situation of GM animals, in particular fish, and the foods derived from them. For further information, contact: Ezzeddine Boutrif, FAO; tel: (+39 6) 5705-6156; fax: 5705-4593; email: ezzeddine.boutrif@fao.org; Internet: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/biotech/meetings/ec_nov2003/en/.
17-21 November, Geneva, Switzerland: PIC INC-10: Organised by the United Nations Environment Programme. This will be the 10th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an International Legally Binding Instrument for the Application of the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. For further information, contact: Interim Secretariat for the Rotterdam Convention, tel: (+41 22) 917-8183, fax: 797-3460; email: pic@unep.ch; Internet: http://www.pic.int/en/ViewPage.asp?id=337
18 November, Miami, Florida: FINDING SYNERGIES IN THE FTAA BETWEEN THE CONVENTION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND IPRS. Organised by World Conservation Union (IUCN), Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (CEDA) and Tulane Institute for Environmental Law and Policy. This session will focus on the interface between intellectual property rights and the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, which is addressed by a variety of international instruments, most importantly the WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the ongoing discussions in WIPO on traditional knowledge and on a new Substantive Patent Treaty. For further information, contact: IUCN, tel: (+41 22) 999-0000; fax: 999-0002; email: mail@iucn.org; Internet: http://www.miami.edu/nsc/pages/ATSDFtentIPR.pdf
19 November, Johannesburg, South Africa: WORKSHOP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE OECD GUIDELINES FOR MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES. Organised by the Organisation on Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This workshop will be held to take stock of progress in promoting corporate responsibility through private sector initiatives and inter-governmental approaches such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The focus will be on companies’ environmental performance. For further information, contact: Kaveri Bopiah Liverani, tel: (+33 1) 4525-9369; fax: 4430-6135; email: kaveri.bopiah-liverani@oecd.org; Internet: http://www.oecd.org/media/upcoming.htm
24-25th November, Brussels, Belgium: WHY DOES CHEMICALS POLICY AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT CONCERN ME? Organised by EU Conferences Limited. The REACH Chemical Policy will become a reality in some form very soon and its legislation will influence, transportation, labelling, management, software applications design, testing procedures and production of chemicals. It will affect upstream and downstream users, as well as distributors and ethical retail purchasers. For further information, contact: tel: (+44 18) 7383-0724; tel/fax: 7383-0692; email: info@euconferences.com; Internet: http://www.euconferences.com/frachemical.htm
27-29 November, Brussels, Belgium: GLOBAL PROGRESSIVE FORUM. Organised by the Party of European Socialists, the Parliamentary Group of the PES and the Socialist International. The Global Progressive Forum will bring together more than 500 policy makers, leaders and representatives of non-governmental organisations, trades unions, businesses and academia from around the world for a three-day gathering in the European Parliament in Brussels, to launch a global reform process. The Forum is open upon registration and will consist of two plenary sessions and eighteen round tables on global issues, such as trade and poverty and reform of the UN. For further information, contact: globalprogressiveforum@pes.org; Internet: http://www.pes.org/globalprogressiveforum
Other Forthcoming
1- 4 December, Berlin, Germany: MEETING ON THE SUSTAINABLE USE AND CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY: A CHALLENGE FOR SOCIETY. Organised by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. At national and international levels, no strategies exist that help resolve the conflict between conserving biological diversity and, simultaneously, using diversity in a sustainable manner. The symposium is intended to intensify the dialog between decision makers, users and scientists, and to foster national and international research cooperation on these issues. For further information, contact: the Ministry, tel: (+49 22) 8819-9611; fax: 8819-9640; email: meltem.cosar@dir.de; Internet: http://www.biodiversity-symposium.de.
4-5 December, Brussels, Belgium: RISK PERCEPTION: SCIENCE, PUBLIC DEBATE AND POLICY MAKING. Organised by the European Commission. Building on previous European Commission conferences on risk management and European governance the event incorporates a stakeholder forum on risk perception looking at genetically modified (GM) crops and GM food. The conference will focus both on understanding the process of risk perception and on practical ways in which governance can be improved and the public’s trust in science based regulation can be increased. For further information, contact: tel: (+32 2) 344-6232; fax: (+32 2) 344-7564; email: Risk-perception@jk-events.com; Internet: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/risk_perception/index.htm
8-12 December, Chile: SECOND MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION EXPERT GROUP ON BAT-BEP. Organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In this meeting, guidelines will be developed on the best available techniques and provisional guidance will be provided on best environmental practices relevant to the provisions of Article 5 and Annex C of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. For further information, contact: Stockholm Convention interim Secretariat; tel: (+41 22) 917-8191; fax: 797-3460; e-mail: ssc@chemicals.unep.ch; Internet: http://www.pops.int/documents/meetings/.
10-13 December, Colombo, Sri Lanka: ASIA REGIONAL CONSERVATION FORUM. Organised by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The Forum aims at facilitating the identification of critical environmental and conservation issues facing the region and also a broad based agreement across the environment and development constituency on how best these issues and concerns can be addressed. This would help the countries fine tune their programmes, NGO and research organization focus their activities on relevant issues and donors include funding provisions for these issues in their portfolio. These outputs will be incorporated in the IUCN’s programme for 2005-2008, which would be adopted by the global environmental conservation community at the World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand in November, 2004. For further information, contact: IUCN, tel: (+41 22) 999-0000; fax: (+41 22) 999-0002; email: mail@iucn.org; Internet: http://www.rcfasia.org/.
28-30 January 2004, Geneva, Switzerland: SEMINARS ON INVESTMENT AND COMPETITION. CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment and Economic Regulation (C-CIER), Jaipur, India will organise a luncheon Panel Discussion on Civil Society Perceptions of FDI as part of the Final Meeting of the ‘Investment for Development’ (IFD) project on 28 January; a conference of the INCSOC entitled ‘Engaging Civil Society in Promoting a Healthy Competition Culture’ on 29 January; and an international seminar as part of the final meeting of the IFD project entitled ‘FDI Policies and Regulation - How to Foster Economic Development?’ on 30 January. For further information, contact: IFD, email: ifd@cuts.org or incsoc@incsoc.net.