GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL TRADE AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Edited by M. Ataman Aksoy and John C. Beghin. World Bank, January 2005. The World Bank suggests in its latest report that agricultural sector reforms in general, and trade liberalisation in particular, are essential for improving the lives of poor people in developing countries. The fact that agricultural protection remains one of the most contentious issues in international trade negotiations is evidence of the fact that reducing agricultural trade protection in industrial and some middle-income countries is necessary for developing countries to translate investments in agricultural productivity into poverty reduction. For more information and to access the report visit http://www.worldbank.org/prospects/globalag
COMPILATION OF NAFTA CHAPTER 11 INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTES. Compiled by Scott Sinclair. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, January 2005. This comprehensive table describes every case filed under North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA’s) chapter on investment, which involves the controversial investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. The compilation provides information on the date the complaint was filed, complaining investor, issue, NAFTA articles cited, amount claimed and status. For more information and to access the compilation visit http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/National_Office_Pubs/2005/chapter11_january2005.pdf
ISAAA BRIEFS 32-2004: PREVIEW: GLOBAL STATUS OF COMMERCIALIZED BIOTECH/GM CROPS: 2004. By C. James. International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), January 2005. This annual update on the status of biotechnology crops provides comprehensive data on the use of biotechnology around the world. In 2004, the global area cultivated with biotech crops continued to increase for the ninth consecutive year at a sustained double-digit growth rate of 20 percent, compared to 15 percent in 2003. The estimated global area of approved biotech crops for 2004 was 81 million hectares, up from 67.7 million hectares in 2003. Biotech crops were grown by approximately 8.25 million farmers in 17 countries. For further information and to access the report visit http://www.isaaa.org
2005 GENEVA DECLARATION ON TRADE & ENVIRONMENT. By EcoLomics International, January 2005. This declaration proposes a ten-point action plan for the WTO aimed at reinvigorating discussions and negotiations on trade and the environment that are currently stalled because of a lack of interest and urgency among member states. For further information and to access the declaration visit http://www.ecolomics-international.org/
"Millennium Development Goals: Why They Matter." By Sakiko Fukuda-Parr in GLOBAL GOVERNANCE 10 (4), October-December 2004, pp. 395-402. The Millenium Development Goals are new because an unprecedented assembly of the world’s heads of state generated them when they met in September 2000 and they put human development-poverty, people and their lives-at the centre of the global development agenda for the new millennium, a shift away from growth as the central objective of development. They are not just aspirations but provide a framework for accountability by defining concrete goals that can be monitored. They address not only development outcomes but also inputs from rich countries, thus forming a compact that holds both poor and rich governments accountable for opening markets, giving more aid and debt relief, and transferring technology.
WTO APPELLATE BODY REPERTORY OF REPORTS AND AWARDS 1995-2004. The WTO Appellate Body Repertory of Reports and Awards is the essential research tool for professionals involved in international trade law. Originally developed as an internal research tool to assist the Appellate Body Secretariat in carrying out its duty to provide legal support to Appellate Body Members, the Repertory is now being made available to the public in the hope that it will become a practical tool for officials from WTO Members, academics, students and private practitioners of international trade law and dispute settlement. For further information and to order, see https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html