‘Agriculture Week’ Starts With Environment And Trade Preferences
Meeting for this year’s last ‘agriculture week’ consisting of a 3-5 December informal special (negotiating) session of the Committee on Agriculture, a regular session on 6 December, as well as a 7 December formal special session, WTO Members discussed on Monday the relationship between environment and both domestic support and special and differential treatment (S&D). Non- papers have been tabled by Japan, Norway and the Cairns Group. Reconvened in the afternoon, Members addressed the role of trade preferences for the reform programme, especially from the view of less competitive developing countries, with non-papers put forward by Namibia, Swaziland, Paraguay, the African Group and the EU. On food aid, papers are expected to be tabled from the EC, Mercosur, Norway, and seven Like-Minded Group members, whereas Switzerland prepared a paper on animal welfare/consumer information in line with the EU’s paper on animal welfare tabled during the September informal negotiations (see BRDGES Weekly, 2 October 2001). Finally, Canada and, more than likely, the US are issuing non-papers on sectoral initiatives. BRIDGES Weekly will report comprehensively on the outcomes of the agriculture negotiations in next week’s edition. ICTSD Internal Files.
Indian Trade Official Says Moore Unacceptable Choice To Lead Negotiations
India will oppose any attempt by current WTO Director-General Mike Moore to chair the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) that will oversee the negotiations mandated at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, according to an Indian trade negotiator. The official, who wished not to be named, said that, "any eventual chairmanship of Mr. Moore is seen as a sure sign that developed countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will hijack its working, with consequent implication on the interests of the rest of the world." Moore has reportedly already sought and received support from the US and the EU for the position of head of the TNC. The Indian trade source said that current Chair of the General Council Stuart Harbinson might be acceptable, but only if he shows reassuring signs of neutrality.
"OECD steps us effort to subvert Supachai at WTO," FINANCIAL EXPRESS, 2 December 2001.
Little Substantive Discussion At TRIPs Council
In its first meeting after the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, the Council for Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) focused only on the review of national implementing legislation. According to one trade source, Members had decided to not hold discussions on the remaining items — including reviews under Articles 27.3(b) (patentability of life forms) and 71.1, and the issue of intellectual property rights and public health — at this stage in order to give countries time to consider the outcomes of the Ministerial Conference and develop their positions. The next meeting of the TRIPs Council has been tentatively scheduled for 5-7 March 2002, with informal consultations to be held early next year on how the Council should organise its work in the light of the Doha Declaration. Members will discuss, inter alia, the extension of geographical indications for products other than wines and spirits, which has proven particularly contentious, with some countries claiming that the Ministerial Declaration provides a mandate for negotiations on GI extensions while others dispute this interpretation. For further details on this controversy, see the forthcoming editions of BRIDGES Trade BioRes and BRIDGES Between Trade and Sustainable Development. ICTSD Internal Files.