EUROPEAN FOOD COMMITTEE FAILS TO END DE FACTO BIOTECH MORATORIUM
At an 8 December meeting, the European Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health failed to reach the qualified majority required for approving Syngenta’s Bt-11 biotech maize (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 14 November 2003). Thirty-three members voted in favour, 29 against the approval and 25 members abstained from voting. Austria, Denmark, France, Greece and Luxembourg voted against the proposal, while Germany, Belgium and Italy abstained. A positive vote would have put an end to the ongoing de facto moratorium on the approval of new genetically modified organisms (at least for biotech foods), currently being challenged in the WTO by the US, Canada and Argentina (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 25 August 2003). The proposal will now be put to the European Council (probably in January), which will be required to take a decision within three months. If it fails to decide, the Commission can adopt the proposal unilaterally. Civil society group Friends of the Earth hailed the vote as a "victory for public safety and common sense". The group continues to insist that the maize should be assessed under the new, more thorough approval process recently adopted in the EC. The Commission has stressed that the product would not be sold before April 2004 when the new traceability and labelling rules enter into force, which would also apply to the biotech maize.
"EU fails to end moratorium on genetically modified food," ENS, 9 December 2003; "Member states divided over GM food ban," EURACTIV, 8 December 2003.
TASK FORCE FORMED AGAINST ILLEGAL FISHING
A new ministerial task force to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing was announced on 30 November in conjunction with the Deep Sea 2003 conference in New Zealand. Ministers from Australia, Britain, Chile, Namibia and New Zealand will form the task force, which is set to prepare recommendations on sound, politically realistic and financially viable measures to eliminate or prevent such fishing. Scientists, legal experts, and civil society groups will be provided with the opportunity to partake in discussions.
In related news, the FAO recently provided an update of IUU fishing, noting that "the situation is particularly grave and forbidding given that some 75 percent of world fisheries are already being fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted". Meanwhile, the WWF, with TRAFFIC — a wildlife trade-monitoring network — released a report entitled "Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Deep-Sea Fisheries: Lessons from Orange Roughy". The report focuses on the rapidly expanding and largely unregulated deep sea fisheries, which are coming under severe threat. The report, which was released to coincide with the Deep Sea 2003 conference, calls for urgent and strong measures to protect deep sea fisheries.
To access the FAO update on IUU fishing, see http://www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/007/J0403e.htm.
To access the WWF/TRAFFIC report, see http://www.traffic.org/OrangeRoughy.pdf.
"Ministerial task force to tackle illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing," OECD PRESS RELEASE, 30 November 2003; "Hodgson to join international pirate fishing taskforce," THE NEW ZEALAND HEARLD, 1 December 2003; "FAO calls for intensified action to combat illegal fishing," FAO PRESS RELEASE, 3 December 2003; "Unregulated Fishing Threatens Deep Sea Species," ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE, 2 December 2003.
US-AUSTRALIA, US-MOROCCO FREE TRADE DEALS POSTPONED
The US and Australia wound up what had been set to be the their final round of talks on a free trade agreement on 8 December, without reaching agreement. The talks are now expected to finish in January next year. A major sticking point in the talks is Australian access to the US agriculture market.Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile warned Australian farmers that they might have to make concessions with regard to the timeframe for their access, as well as on quotas. He confirmed, however, that access for Australian sugar, beef and dairy still is a top priority in negotiations. The US firmly pushed its own position during the recent talks, including the lifting of certain Australian restrictions in the television, radio and film sectors, and for the reform of the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.
In related news, a report on the potential impacts of the US-Australia FTA — focusing on the effects of changes to intellectual property laws on drug patents — was released on 3 December. Entitled "A backdoor to higher medicine prices? Intellectual property and the Australia-US FTA", the report notes that Australians would pay an additional AUS$1 billion for essential medicines if US proposed changes to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme come through. The report states that drug companies would be able to keep the producers of cheaper generic brand medicines out of the market longer if drug patent laws were changed. Prices for "over-the-counter" drugs, products outside of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, might also rise due to the proposed FTA.
To access the report, visit http://www.tai.org.au/WhatsNew_Files/WhatsNew/Patents.pdf.
Delegates at ongoing Morocco-US free trade talks likewise failed to wrap up negotiations as planned — reportedly due to disagreements in the agriculture sector — and will resume talks in January.
"US FTA negotiators seek backdoor to higher medicine prices," AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE NEWS RELEASE, 3 December 2003; "Trade talks end but no deal yet," THE AGE, 8 December 2003.
WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS OPENS IN GENEVA
The World Summit on Information Systems (WSIS), a UN event on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), opened in Geneva on 10 December and will continue through 12 December. The objective of the WSIS is to provide an opportunity for all relevant stakeholders to develop a better understanding of the ICT revolution and its impact on the international community, and to help develop a vision of an inclusive global information society where all people are empowered to freely create, share, and utilise information and knowledge for their economic, social, cultural and political development. Proposals under discussion, to be adopted by participants in the form of a Declaration and a Plan of Action, include developing national e-strategies for all countries and the launching of a "Global Digital Compact" and an ICT Development Index. A second phase of WSIS will be hosted by the Government of Tunisia from 16 to 18 November 2005.
An Information and Communication Technology for Development Platform (ICT4D), hosting a large number of workshops and side events, is being held as a mirror conference to the government-dominated WSIS. The Platform’s core programme centres around: showcasing development programmes and initiatives; debating current experiences and innovative models; and analysing future trends and action on innovative methods such as joint programme financing models and options to further the ICT4D agenda. It is being co-organised by the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The next issue of BRIDGES Weekly will follow-up on the outcome of the WSIS.
ICTSD reporting.
SUSTAINABLE COFFEE INITIATIVE TO ESTABLISH NEW PARTNERSHIP PLATFORM
On 8-9 December, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Sustainable Coffee Initiative (SCI) held a meeting on "Sustainability in the Coffee Sector: Exploring Opportunities for International Cooperation - Assessment and Implementation". Participants determined to establish an interim Steering Committee for the creation of a Sustainable Coffee Partnership (SCP) as a platform for global research, policy development and cooperation around sustainable coffee trade. Among others, the Steering Committee would include the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank. The workshop, held in Geneva, attracted some 80 to 90 representatives from coffee grower associations, the coffee trading and roasting business, Fair Trade and Organic labelling organisations, the funding community, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations. The meeting was a follow-up to a February 2003 SCI multistakeholder brainstorming workshop that had identified key issues. These issues, which were addressed at the meeting, included: financing for sustainability in coffee; sustainable contracts; sustainability standards; and the creation of a Sustainable Coffee Partnership (SCP). Participants brought up questions such as whether grants or credits would be the appropriate financing tool to achieve sustainability in the coffee sector; whether the contractual relationship between producer and buyer could be a means through which sustainability could be promoted, and how harmonisation of, mutual recognition amongst, and cooperation between the many different standard systems could be a big step towards sustainability. They also considered and how a SCP could be established, and what its priorities should be.
ICTSD reporting.