CHINA DECLARES OPPOSITION TO US, EU TEXTILE RUMBLINGS
The Chinese government has declared its opposition to preliminary moves by the US and the EU that could eventually lead to the imposition of import restrictions on Chinese textiles.
The US Commerce Department announced 4 April that it was starting investigations to ascertain whether certain textile and clothing imports from China disrupted the US market and, if so, whether the US could then impose restrictions on them using the ‘China textile safeguard’ established as part of the country’s terms of accession to the WTO (see BRIDGES Weekly, 6 April 2005). Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Chong Quan said on 7 April that the decision "harm[s] the confidence of Chinese industry and of the Chinese public in the international trading environment." He also warned that China would take retaliatory measures through the WTO if necessary.
In reaction to the EU decision on 6 April to issue guidelines establishing levels of Chinese imports that would trigger EU investigation, Chong said that China "strongly objects" and that "this decision deviates from the spirit of free trade that the European Union has been calling for". Meanwhile, EU officials said that they would decide whether or not to open an investigation on Chinese textile imports the week of 18 April, when new data are expected to become available.
EU and US textile groups have been petitioning their respective governments to impose restrictions on an increasing number of Chinese textile and clothing imports.
"Textile barriers break world trade principles," CHINA DAILY, 11 April 2005; "China ‘Opposes’ Moves on Textiles By U.S., EU, Issues Threat of Retaliation," WTO REPORTER, 8 April 2005; "U.S. Textile Coalition Files Seven China Safeguard Petitions," WTO REPORTER, 7 April 2005; "Euratex Says EU Should Act Immediately Against Chinese Textiles," BLOOMBERG, 8 April 2005.
NEW OXFAM REPORT CALLS FOR PROTECTION FOR VITAL FOOD CROPS
Rich WTO Member countries are threatening the livelihoods of poor farmers in developing countries by reneging on a promise to exempt vital food crops from tariff cuts, according to a new report by international charity Oxfam. The report, entitled "Kicking down the door," calls for "special products", vital for food security and livelihoods in developing countries, to be fully exempt from tariff reduction in ongoing WTO negotiations.
Since the 1980s, Oxfam says, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "formal loan conditionality and informal arm-twisting to force developing countries to deregulate and liberalise their agricultural markets." In recent years, the World Trade Organisation has become "the new battleground where developing economies are forced to reduce their tariffs on imports." Oxfam warns that if the tariff-reduction formula known as the ‘Harbinson formula’ (see BRIDGES Weekly, 12 February 2003) is used in WTO agriculture negotiations, thirteen rice-growing developing countries — including India, China, Nicaragua, and Egypt — would have to slash rice tariffs, and be unable to raise them in the event of an import surge to protect farmers’ livelihoods. At the same time, the US is dumping tonnes of highly subsidised rice on the world market, making it impossible for farmers in poor countries to compete. Similar situations are likely for other important foods such as wheat, maize, soyabeans, and poultry.
In order to protect vulnerable farmers in developing countries, Oxfam says that an agreement in ongoing WTO talks should include a tariff-reduction formula that fully exempts food security crops and allows poor countries to pursue their development strategies; and establish a ’special safeguard mechanism’ for developing countries to invoke in the case of harmful import surges.
The full report is available at http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pdfs/bp72_rice.pdf
"Two-pronged trade attack will destroy poor farmers," OXFAM PRESS RELEASE, 11 April 2005; "Oxfam asks India to protect farmers from WTO proposals," THE HINDU, 11 April 2005; "Protection urged for poor nations’ farmers," THE FINANCIAL TIMES, 10 April 2005.
‘GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION’ CALLS FOR TRADE JUSTICE
Civil society organisations and religious groups across the globe launched a ‘Global Week of Action’ beginning 10 April with several million people from over 70 countries calling for trade justice. Events worldwide include special church services, a global fast for trade justice, public debates, concerts, mass rallies, nationwide petitions, and farmers’ hearings. The organisers of the week of action said that they aim to challenge the "myth" that the only way to reduce poverty across the world is through more free trade, liberalisation and privatisation. Participants hope to tell the stories of those who are suffering as a result of international trade, put forward alternatives to the current trade system, and demonstrate the scale of the global movement for trade justice.
Stressing that developing countries must have the right to decide which sectors to open to trade and when, the groups co-ordinating the event, including branches of Oxfam, Christian Aid, Attac, and Focus on the Global South, said that developing countries should not be forced to liberalise their industrial, services, or agriculture sectors at the WTO, and that negotiations on special and differential treatment should receive more attention. In addition, they argued that the IMF and World Bank should stop attaching trade liberalisation conditionalities to their loans, and that liberalisation through bilateral and regional agreements between regions or countries at different levels of development should not put the interest of business before the needs and rights of local people and communities. Lastly, they call on developed countries to end export subsidies on agricultural products.
For further information visit http://www.april2005.org
"Media Briefing for the Global Week of Action on Trade," GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION, April 2005.
WIPO: INDIA REJECTS OUTCOME OF CASABLANCA PATENT HARMONISATION MEETING
On 5 April Indian government circulated an informal note to Geneva-based Permanent Missions to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) rejecting the outcomes of a controversial WIPO meeting on patent harmonisation held in Casablanca in February (see BRIDGES Weekly, 23 February 2005).
The meeting had come under heavy criticism for its lack of representation of developing countries in general, and the 14 proponents of the WIPO ‘development agenda’ in particular, with the notable exception of Brazil (see related story, this issue). Many developing countries had charged that WIPO had, in organising the meeting, sought to sideline countries that do not support developed country ideas on patent harmonisation. Brazil, as the only proponent of the development agenda invited to the Casablanca gathering, specifically rejected the final meeting statement.
In its ‘note verbale,’ India distanced itself from the outcomes of the Casablanca meeting, specifying that Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of India, the country’s largest independent research and development institution, had not attended the meeting on behalf of the Indian government. In the note, India expressed its general support for the September 2004 proposal calling for a development agenda in WIPO.
ICTSD reporting; "WIPO Rekindles Patent Talks As Some Cry Foul," INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WATCH, March 2005.