MEXICO FLOATS IDEA OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ‘MINI-MINISTERIAL’
According to trade sources, Mexico has informally suggested holding a ‘mini-Ministerial’ with a select group of Members on the issues of technical assistance (TA) and capacity-building (CB) for developing country WTO Members. One goal of such a meeting of trade ministers would be to discuss what yardsticks could be used to measure whether the TA and CB commitments outlined in the Doha Ministerial Declaration are being met. Least-developed countries (LDCs) have not received an invitation to attend such a meeting. In the lead-up to Doha, mini- Ministerials were held to move forward on particularly contentious issues. One controversial area in TA/CB involves the so- called ‘Singapore’ issues of investment, competition, transparency in government procurement, and trade facilitation. Negotiations on these areas are slated to begin "after" the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference (scheduled for mid-2003 in Mexico). Many developing countries say that before they can sign on to such talks, however, they need to build sufficient negotiating capacity through TA and CB. Developed countries are concerned that regardless of how much TA they grant, it will not be enough to satisfy some developing countries. No date was specified as of press time.
"Mexico proposes WTO Mini-Ministerial on Technical Assistance," INSIDE US TRADE, 22 March 2002.
NEXT STAGE OF EC ASSESSMENT LOOKS TO SD EFFECTS OF DOHA TALKS
The Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), University of Manchester, was selected by the European Commission in March to undertake further work in developing a Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) methodology for use during subsequent stages of WTO negotiations. Phases One and Two of the SIA have already been completed and are available on the EC website at http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/miti/envir/sia.htm. The main objectives of the first two phases of the study were to develop a methodology for carrying out a sustainable impact assessment and to use the methodology to make a broad qualitative assessment of the impact upon sustainability of new trade negotiations. The main objectives of the current study contract are (a) to refine and develop the existing SIA methodology to enable the continuation of an SIA during subsequent stages of the WTO trade negotiations; (b) to participate in the dialogue, concerning the SIA, with interested stakeholders; and (c) to continue the development of a credible international network of SIA experts and participate in the policy debate on SIA with experts in other countries and within other international organisations.
As part of this work, IDPM website for this work is http://idpm.man.ac.uk/sia-trade and contains background information and progress reports.
IDPM PRESS RELEASE, 20 March 2002.
WTO DEVELOPING ARAB REGION STRATEGY
According to a 26 March speech by WTO Director-General Mike Moore in Doha, Qatar, the WTO is adopting a strategy to further engage the Arab region in the multilateral trading system. Among the proposals Moore cited was increased technical assistance for Arab countries and the exploration of ways to improve the flow of communications and WTO- related information to Arab countries. As a first step, the WTO has been working with the Arab based Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co. (TAGI) foundation to establish an unofficial Arabic language website on the WTO. The site, which can be reached at http://www.wtoarab.org/, will make available both background information and current and breaking news related to the WTO and the Arab speaking world. Moore also said the accession of Arab countries was being made a priority as part of the Arab strategy.
"New Arabic Language WTO Website Launched," AGIP BULLETIN, November 2001. "Democracy, Development and the WTO," WTO NEWS, 26 March 2002.