TRADE FLOWS AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TEXTILES AND CLOTHING IN THE ASIA PACIFIC: TRACKING REPORT. By the United Nations Development Programme Regional Centre in Colombo (UNDP RCC), September 2005. This publication is part of a UNDP RCC initiative to assess the human development impact of the elimination of textiles and clothing trade quotas in twelve Asian countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. The report includes a discussion of general trends in US and EU textile and clothing imports from Asia, an examination of national trade statistics and analysis of its findings.
THE GREAT MAZE: REGIONAL AND BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS IN ASIA - TRENDS, CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. By the United Nations Development Programme Regional Centre in Colombo (UNDP RCC), September 2005. This paper first examines the phenomenon of free trade agreement (FTA) proliferation and the underlying forces and motivations of key players at work. Following this, the discussion paper builds on the established analysis to address the impact of FTA explosion on policy choices from a human development perspective in Asia.
CORPORATE CONQUEST, GLOBAL GEOPOLITICS: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND BILATERAL INVESTMENT TREATIES. By Aziz Choudry. Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN), January 2005. This paper examines how bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) that contain specific investment provisions reflect geopolitical concerns as well as economic ones. It also looks at how these agreements help redefine the rights and privileges of transnational corporations with respect to commercial control over biodiversity through intellectual property rights (IPRs). Available online at http://www.grain.org/seedling_files/seed-05-01-2.pdf.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE: LINKAGES AND METHODOLOGIES. By Aaron Cosbey, Luke Eric Peterson, László Pintér. International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), March 2005. This paper aims to flesh out the various linkages that exist between trade policy (broadly defined to cover investment, intellectual property rights, goods, services, etc.) and environmental health. It analyses potential impact pathways by which trade policy might affect environmental health, based on a review of the literature and on the authors’ knowledge of trade-environment and assessment issues. The paper serves as a first step in a journey of exploration, trying to gauge the feasibility and desirability of incorporating environmental health aspects in Canada’s environmental assessments of trade liberalisation agreements. It also briefly considers the implications of the surveyed linkages for an environmental health impact assessment of trade policy. Available online at http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?id=713.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, COMPETITION AND DEVELOPMENT. By Martin Khor. Third World Network, June 2005. This paper examines the relation of intellectual property (IP) with monopoly and competition, in the development context. It considers the effects of IP in the special situation of developing countries. The paper was presented at a seminar organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in May 2005. Available online at http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/par/mk002.doc.