Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 22 • 18th June 2003
Standards Gap Hurts African Countries
BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL TO ENTER INTO FORCE
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety — a protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) — will enter into force on 11 September this year. On 13 June, the island state of Palau became the 50th country to ratify the protocol, thus triggering entry into force 90 days later. The aim of the Protocol is to control the transboundary movement of living genetically modified organisms (LMOs) and the adverse effects their release into the environment might have on countries’ ecosystems. The Protocol refers directly to the precautionary principle, and establishes an advance informed agreement (AIA) procedure for import of LMOs. A Biosafety Clearinghouse will be used by Parties to exchange information, including on implementation issues. Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary of the CBD, said that "with the science of biotechnology advancing at such a rapid pace, it is vital that developing countries and countries with economies in transition have the human resources and institutions they need for promoting biosafety," and added that "by building these resources and strengthening international collaboration on biosafety, the Protocol will boost public confidence in our ability to manage GMOs safely".
On trade implications of the Protocol, Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director, said that, "avoiding potential conflicts between trade laws and the biosafety regime will require good will and careful management". WTO Members are in the process of negotiating the relationship between specific trade obligations in multilateral environmental agreements such as the CBD, and WTO rules (see BRIDGES Weekly, 7 May 2003). While a number of Members, such as the EU, will be Parties to the Protocol, the US has not ratified the CBD and will not be a Party to the Protocol when it enters into force.
"Treaty on international trade in GMOs to become law: Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will enter into force in September," SEEDQUEST RELEASE, 13 June 2003; "Ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety — Countdown to Entry into force," CBD PRESS RELASE, 13 June 2003.
WTO PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM FOCUSES ON ROAD TO CANCúN
The WTO held its annual public symposium from 16-18 June in Geneva, Switzerland, inviting representatives from governments, parliaments, NGOs, businesses, and academia to air their views on current trade issues. Entitled "Challenges Ahead on the Road to Cancún," the event was attended by over 700 people, convening in 22 sessions focussing on issues ranging from the relationship between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and the WTO, to investment, non-trade concerns in agriculture, services, and sustainability impact assessment of trade agreements. In his opening speech, Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi stressed that "if we are to achieve a more prosperous, equitable, just and stable world, we must have a successful and timely outcome of the Doha negotiations," and said that with a view to the current weak global economy, a successful outcome at Cancún would send the right signals. "Failure is not an option," he said.
At this year’s Symposium, gender issues featured for the first time in such an event. Organised by the group Geneva Women in International Trade and moderated by Ambassador Yolande Biké of Gabon, the aim of the session was not only to draw attention to the WTO and the significant contributions that women make in international trade, but also to highlight the impact of trade liberalisation on women. According to the speakers, women represent 70 percent of the world’s poor and thus are at the centre of the development process. As producers and consumers, they are important economic actors and decision-makers. Nevertheless, poor women have little influence on the globalisation process. They work in traditional local activities and use traditional technologies. They are small-scale producers with limited property rights, often lacking education and knowledge. Moreover, since men are more likely to benefit from trade liberalisation than women, the gender gap increases as a result of greater trade flows. The discussants at the session strongly emphasised the need to provide women with the means to build their own capacity, noting that the empowerment of women has become a crucial determinant in the process of sustainable development. A number of speakers concluded that action should focus on investing in women and expanding partnerships with women locally and internationally.
A report of the symposium will be posted on the WTO website at the end of June 2003, see http://www.wto.org.
ICTSD reporting.
NEW PRESSURE GROUP SEEKS TO SAFEGUARD GIS
On 11 June a new pressure group was created in Geneva, Switzerland, to work in support of extending the higher level of protection awarded to wines and spirits to other products under WTO rules. Directed by Pedro Echeverria, a coffee-grower from Guatemala, ORIGIN (the Organisation for an International Geographical Indications Network) gathers Italian ham-makers, Guatemalan coffee farmers as well as Indian rice-and tea- growers. "The cause is shared by many developed and developing countries", said the group president. The WTO covers the issue of geographical indications (GIs) in the annex to its rules on trade- related aspects of intellectual property rights. However, it concerns only wines and spirits. Producers in the EU and some other, poorer nations feel threatened by the US, Canadian and Australian firms that make the same products and use the same names. The idea expressed by ORIGIN is to extend to cheeses, rice and teas the same protection given to wines and spirits, so as to prevent their imitation by agricultural producers in other countries. The US, Canada, Australia and others disagree with this idea and see in it a new form of protectionism. Within the WTO, GIs are being discussed in informal consultations initiated by Director-General Supachai Panitchpadki (see BRIDGES Weekly, 21 May 2003).
"’Geographical Indications’ a New Snag in Agricultural Talks", IPS, 16 June 2003; "Specialty Food Producers Seek Trade Protection", REUTERS, 11 June 2003.
According to a new report entitled "Standards and Global Trade: A Voice for Africa," African countries face critical challenges in increasing their capacity to meet production and quality standards required in foreign markets. This standards divide prevents Africa from accessing the global market and benefiting from gains from increased exports. "Rising exports can help to create new jobs, increase growth and speed poverty reduction," said World Bank Vice President for sub-Saharan Africa, Callisto Madavo. The World Bank book identifies the lack of ability of African countries to meet trade standards, as well as their limited impact in shaping these standards, as real barriers to trade. The report focuses its analysis on five countries — Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda — and proposes an action plan for each one of them. It stresses the necessity of public-private cooperation and investment to bridge the standard gap, and highlight the benefits of rich countries removing non-tariff barriers and further opening their markets.
The report was released in conjunction with the World Economic Forum’s Africa Economic Summit in South Africa from 11-13 June. The summit called for action and for concrete ways to work toward the principles outlined in the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) agreement.
To access the report, visit http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=1688508.
"Bridging The ‘Standards Divide’ Could Boost African Exports, Jobs And Poverty Reduction", WORLD BANK PRESS RELEASE, 10 June 2003; "Africa’s Rescue Plan Begins", NEWS24 RELEASE, 10 June 2003.
MEXICO SUMMIT CALLS FOR ACTION ON POVERTY, AGRICULTURE AND BIODIVERSITY
A "Mexico Action Summit" was held in Mexico City from 2-3 June, organised by the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council and the Monterrey Bridge Coalition — a collaborate initiative among organisations challenging countries to implement their promises from the Financing for Development conference in 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico, and aiming to create mutually supportive linkages between sustainable agricultural production, biodiversity protection and trade policies. The two-day meeting, fostering discussion in number of sessions and roundtables around the themes of poverty, agriculture and biodiversity, concluded by launching a call to action that stressed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as the framework that should unite all public and private action to alleviate hunger and poverty and restore biodiversity, and called for action to reach these goals by 2015. The call to action went on to identify critical next steps in this regard, including to: restore agriculture and rural development as the priority sectors in public policies; eliminate subsidies on agricultural products; value and promote healthy ecological systems that provide the basis for agriculture production and a well nourished population; promote public-private partnerships; recognise links between rural development, hunger and HIV/AIDS; create mechanisms for equitable benefit-sharing of biodiversity; and focus especially on tropical and subtropical countries, specifically sub-Saharan Africa.
For a full IISD Reporting Services account of the meeting, visit http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/sd/sdmex/sdvol86num1.html.
"The Mexico Action Summit: A Call To Action - A New Approach for a New Future," FUTURE HARVEST PRESS RELEASE, 4 June 2003.