If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy or review by the BRIDGES staff to Sarah Mohan.
THE BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL: MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT OR PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT OR PROTECTIONIST CLUB? By Anna L. Hobbs, Jill E. Hobbs and William A. Kerr in the Journal of World Trade 39(2), 2005. This paper examines whether the Biosafety protocol can act as an effective multilateral protector of biodiversity that balances the risk that environmental sustainability may be threatened by the introduction of living modified organisms (LMOs) with the risk that considerable opportunities for substantial human benefits will be forgone if the use of LMOs is overly restricted. It suggests that the Protocol is a trade agreement that is solely concerned with establishing the rules under which countries can limit imports of agricultural commodities produced using modern biotechnology and is as such open to a broad range of protectionist interests and unfettered restrictions on imports.
DUMPING FOOD AID: TRADE OR AID? (SUBSIDIZED) FOOD AID IN KIND: WHAT IS IN IT FOR THE WTO. By the Wemos Foundation (April 2005). This report looks at the relationship between humanitarian food aid, subsidized surpluses in donor countries and trade and concludes that local food production must be analyzed in order to end long-term dependency on food aid. It suggests that the process of "dumping" of subsidised food aid through the World Food Program has the same effects as the dumping of below-cost products on world markets.
NO, AIR, DON’T SELL YOURSELF. By GRAIN (May, 2005). This paper suggests that the concept of "environmental services" has become popular over the last decade and has crept into our collective consciousness without setting off the alarm bells it should have done. Environmental services provide the means of taking privatisation to a new level - a means of privatising many things that have as-yet been unavailable for privatisation: air, water and all sorts of other ecological processes. What has been undertaken so far in the name of environmental services, and what are the implications of turning such basic elements into commodities?
SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS OF NOTIFICATIONS OF NON-TARIFF MEASURES (NTMS) IN NON-AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS (NAMA) NEGOTIATIONSOF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, REVISED. By Friends of the Earth International (May, 2005). This report presents revised analysis of non-tariff barrier to trade notifications under non-agricultural market access negotiations at the World Trade Organization. This report shows that these 212 notifications represent the WTO’s newest threat to national laws protecting the environment, social well-being and health. They include a breath-taking array of challenges to labelling and certification requirements; national standards and regulations; export restrictions; restrictions on foreign investment and measures to promote local economic development.
A SOUTHERN AGENDA ON INVESTMENT? PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT WITH BALANCED RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS FOR INVESTORS, HOST STATES AND HOME STATES. By Howard Mann and Konrad von Moltke (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2005). This report is one of, if not the first, deliberate effort to look at how to approach international investment negotiations based on an agenda that takes the priorities of developing countries as its starting point. This paper identifies major issues of concern for developing countries that are vital from the perspective of sustainable development but that are not being addressed in the current negotiating processes. Even though more than 2,000 international investment agreements that have been signed, they address but a small proportion of the issues that require attention if international investment is to promote sustainable development. The Southern Agenda on Investment seeks to begin a dialogue on a different approach, one focused on the needs of the vast majority of people on theplanet.
TRADE IN AGRICULTURE AND THE DOHA ROUND OF MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS. By Dilip K. Das in Journal Of World Investment & Trade 6(2), 2005. Multilateral trade in agriculture and agricultural products is known to have had a difficult political chemistry. An innovation of the World Trade Organization’s Doha Ministerial Conference was that it made special and differential treatment for developing countries integral throughout the negotiations. Special and differential treatment applies to both new commitments made by the Member economies and to any relevant new or revised rules and disciplines initiated during the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations. After prolonged negotiations, there was little agreement on issues of significance and a complete lack of progress before the Cancún Ministerial Conference. This article focuses on the recent progress made in negotiations on agriculture under the sponsorship of the Doha Round.
INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY-RELATED TREATIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT — HOW CAN THEY HELP EACH OTHER? By Dave Pritchard in IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND PROJECT APPRAISAL 23(1), 2005. This paper briefly introduces the ‘biodiversity-related’ treaties or conventions, and their rather basic provisions (but deeper implications) regarding impact assessment. Some initiatives in the past decade to develop this area are reviewed, in particular, the building of linkages between the conventions world and the environmental impact assessment/strategic environmental assessment (EIA/SEA) world, adoption of decisions and guidance, and project activities. The paper reflects on what EIA/SEA can offer to implementation of conventions, and in turn what conventions can offer to the application and advancement of EIA/SEA. Some future directions and opportunities are highlighted.
VACANCY
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE. The Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University seeks a research associate who specialises in analyses of the effects of trade and investment liberalisation on development in Latin America. The associate will conduct such work as part of a larger project that draws lessons from the Latin American experience for ongoing trade negotiations in the Western Hemisphere and at the WTO. Successful candidates will have a PhD in economics or related field (or be close to completion), be able to write and speak well in English, and have a demonstrable record in conducting policy oriented research. This is a one year position that could be renewed indefinately. Interested applicants should write a short e-coverletter and send a c.v. and short writing sample to kevin.gallagher@tufts.edu.
ON THE MOVE
WTO Members meeting in the General Council on 26 May formally selected Pascal Lamy of France to be the organisation’s fifth Director-General. Mr. Lamy will assume his four year term on 1 September.