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COMPARING SAFEGUARD MEASURES IN REGIONAL AND BILATERAL AGREEMENTS. Paul Kruger, Willemien Denner and JB Cronje, Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa, June 2009. This study provides trade negotiators, policy-makers and other stakeholders with a clear, practical comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the various safeguard clauses included in bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs). It groups together regional agreements on the basis of shared characteristics, examines the extent to which various safeguard clauses have been used in practice, and makes a number of recommendations that policy-makers and negotiators could take into consideration when negotiating safeguard clauses in trade agreements. For a copy of the study, visit http://ictsd.net/downloads/2009/07/safeguardweb.pdf.
CONSTRUCTING A COMPOSITE INDEX OF MARKET ACCESS. Timothy Josling, Professor Emeritus, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Stanford University, June 2009. Trade barriers are often opaque and difficult to compare. All too often, an exporter faces costs well in excess of a simple tariff when seeking entry to a market. However, to date, there exist few tools to measure the changes in market access that will take place at the conclusion of the Doha Round, or those that may result from any other trade agreement. The Composite Index of Market Access (CIMA) has been conceived as a tool to help trade policy-makers and other stakeholders to address this challenge. This study provides a methodology and country study guide to illustrate the actual costs faced by exporters of selected tropical products when trying to penetrate markets of interest. While liberalisation through tariff reduction may partially achieve the aim of facilitating access for tropical products, the CIMA project highlights the fact that tariff reductions are only a part of the puzzle that trade policy has to solve. For a copy of the report, visit http://ictsd.net/downloads/2009/07/timjosling10.pdf.
NATURAL CATASTROPHE RISK INSURANCE MECHANISMS FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC. Asian Development Bank, 2009. This publication reviews the key issues and discussions that occurred during the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Conference on Natural Catastrophe Risk Insurance Mechanisms for Asia and the Pacific, held in Tokyo on 4-5 November 2008. The key finding of this report is that many opportunities exist for transferring natural disaster risk in Asia and the Pacific if addressed within a regional public-private partnership (PPP). That partnership must necessarily include national governments, all regional development partners and institutions, and key private sector players, both global and local. The opportunities discussed in this report will largely remain opportunities unless obstacles and gaps in knowledge, research, and experience are bridged. A regional approach to bridging these gaps, involving all critical parties, represents the best chance to unlock the resources necessary to move the region forward to better disaster risk management (DRM). For a copy of the report, visit http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/Natural-Catastrophe-Risk-Insurance/Natural-Catastrophe-Risk-Insurance.pdf.
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