EVENTS
For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar at: http://www.ictsd.org/cal/index.htm. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch.
Coming Up: 24 - 30 June
16-25 June, Bonn, Germany: TWENTIETH SESSIONS OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES TO THE UNFCCC. For further information contact the UNFCCC Secretariat, tel: +49-228-815-1000; fax: +49-228-815-1999; email: secretariat@unfccc.int; Internet: http://www.unfccc.int
16-25 June, Geneva, Switzerland: SEMINAR ON LOCAL BUSINESS, GLOBAL POLICIES: CREATING AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR TRADE & DEVELOPMENT. Organised by the Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations (CASIN), this seminar is the 26th in the "Management of Interdependence" Sseries. It will focus on business as an actor for development and explore avenues to maximise the private sector’s potential to benefit the world’s underprivileged. The question of what constitutes an enabling environment for trade and development will be tackled, and current global rules at play will be critically examined. Some partial and full fellowships are available for participants. For further information, contact CASIN, tel: +41-22-730-8660; fax: +41-22-730-8690; Internet: http://www.casin.ch/inter/25management.htm
21-24 June, Maputo, Mozambique: FOURTH SUMMIT OF ACP HEADS OF STATE. The fourth Summit of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Heads of State will be held under the theme of "Together Shaping our Future". For further information contact the Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group), tel: +32-2-743-0600; fax: +32-2-735-5573; email: info@acp.int; Internet: http://www.acp.int/maputo/
23-24 June, Brussels, Belgium: TRIPS - TEN YEARS LATER. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In order to look back at these ten years and to examine the prospects for the future, the European Commission will organise a conference to bring together key actors - from industrialists to government representatives, international organisations, NGOs and academics - with an interest in intellectual property world wide. The aim is to assess from the widest possible number of perspectives the implications of the TRIPs Agreement and future trends and challenges in global intellectual property protection. The conference is meant to offer a platform to address issues, such as the implications of the TRIPs Agreement for developing countries, enforcement challenges, the interplay between intellectual property and human rights, the relationship between intellectual property and the public domain and the question on whether the TRIPs Agreement is adequate to the challenges of globalisation and the knowledge society. For further information see http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/issues/sectoral/intell_property/pr110604_en.htm
24 June, New York, US: GLOBAL COMPACT LEADERS SUMMIT. To be chaired by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Global Compact Leaders Summit will convene leaders of participating companies, international labour and civil society and select government officials to take stock of the Global Compact and chart its future course. Launched in July 2000, the Global Compact is an international initiative that brings companies together with UN agencies, labour and civil society to support nine agreed principles of human rights, labour and the environment. For further information contact Gavin Power, Director of Communications, tel: +1-212-963-4681; fax: +1-212-963-1207; email: powerg@un.org; Internet: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/
28-29 June, Jaipur, India: MID-TERM REVIEW MEETING OF THE PROJECTS ACHIEVING BETTER MARKET ACCESS AND INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON THE DOHA AGENDA II. Organised by CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE). The first project intends to look into the issues pertaining to trade and development concerns vis-à-vis the multilateral trading system. The second project deals with two complex and contentious topics: transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation. One of the aims of both projects is to assist developing and least developed countries to evolve appropriate positions at the WTO by building the capacity of negotiators and other stakeholders. For further information contact Purnima Purohit / Diana Montero Melis, email: citee@cuts-international.org
28 June to 3 July, Rome, Italy: 27TH SESSION OF THE FAO/WHO CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION. The session is organised by the Codex Alimentarius Secretariat. For further information contact the Codex Secretariat, tel: +39-06-5705-2287; fax: +39-06-5705-3369; email: codex@fao.org; Internet: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/codex/codex27_en.htm
WTO
An updated list of forthcoming WTO meetings is posted at: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/meets.pdf. Please bear in mind that dates and times of WTO meetings are often changed, and that the WTO does not always announce the important informal meetings of the different bodies. Unless otherwise indicated, all WTO meetings are held at the WTO, Centre William Rappard, rue de Lausanne 154, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, and are open to WTO Members and accredited observers only.
24 June: WTO COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES.
24 June: WTO WORKING PARTY ON DOMESTIC REGULATION.
25 June: WTO COMMITTEE ON TRADE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES.
25 June: WTO WORKING PARTY ON THE ACCESSION OF ALGERIA.
25 June: WTO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE - SPECIAL SESSION.
25 June: WTO COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT.
28 June: WTO COMMITTEE OF PARTICIPANTS ON THE EXPANSION OF TRADE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS.
28 June: WTO COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION.
28 June: WTO COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES - SPECIAL SESSION.
28 & 30 June: WTO TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY - BENIN/BURKINA FASO/MALI.
29 June: WTO WORKING PARTY ON THE ACCESSION OF UZBEKISTAN.
29 June: WTO TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE - DEDICATED SESSION.
29 June: WTO NEGOTIATING GROUP ON RULES - REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS.
29 June: WTO WORKING PARTY ON THE ACCESSION OF UZBEKISTAN.
30 June - 1 July: WTO TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE.
Other Upcoming Meetings
19-22 July, London, UK: TAKING FORWARD THE WORLD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS. This Wilton Park conference will explore issues such as the way forward in the Doha Round, ways to improve the functioning of the WTO, the roles of the various new negotiating groups, regionalism, coherence, developing country issues, and implications of EU enlargement and agricultural reform. For further information contact Susan Linfield, Conference Administration, Wilton Park, Wiston, tel: +44-1903-817728; fax: +44-1903-814217; email: susan.linfield@wiltonpark.org.uk; Internet: http://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/web/welcome.html
4-15 October, South Africa: BUILDING COMPENTENCIES FOR MAINSTREAMING TRADE & DEVELOPMENT WORK. DFID in collaboration with the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (TRALAC) in South Africa will hold a 2-week intensive training programme on trade and development topics to around 30 trainees. The course is aimed at programme managers and advisory staff interested in developing their competence to work on trade and development. The programme will focus on key trade and development issues for developing countries at the national level and in the context of the bilateral, regional and multilateral agenda. The course aims to give participants an understanding of, inter alia, the theory and evidence linking trade, growth and poverty reduction and the principles/practice behind mainstreaming trade within national strategies for poverty reduction and sustainable development. For further information and to apply, contact Hushe Mzenda, DFID, email: h-mzenda@dfid.gov.uk or Paul Leenane, tel: +44 20 7023 0892; email: p-leenane@dfid.gov.uk.
1-2 November, Amsterdam, Netherlands: TRADE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: THE NORTH-SOUTH DIMENSIONS. Organised by CAT & E (Concerted Action on Trade and Environment). Over the past few years, the trade and environment agenda has expanded to include many of the WTO agreements as well as regional trade negotiations and investment agreements. This conference seeks to provide a forum for the presentation of recent research and consideration of its implications for policy. Priority topics for consideration include: social and environmental problems in production, trade and (sustainable) development; systemic issues; regional, national, and local case studies; trade in commodities, including genetically modified organisms; and Sustainability Impact Assessment. To submit papers, send abstracts no longer than 300 words by 1 July 2004 to Luke Brander, email: luke.brander@ivm.vu.nl. Decisions regarding the acceptance of abstracts will be made by 30 July. For further information regarding the call for papers and the conference see http://www.cat-e.org./