Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 43 • 15th December 2004

EC And Complainants Granted Delay Request In Sugar Case


SUPACHAI PRAISES TEXTILES MONITORING BODY

WTO Members and Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi took the opportunity to reminisce about the Textiles Monitoring Body (TMB) at its final meeting on 9 December. Supachai described the elimination of all textile and clothing quotas scheduled for 1 January 2005 as an "important milestone in the development of international trade relations," and said that the full integration of all textiles and clothing products into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) "will not only contribute to increasing trading opportunities, but will also be of major systemic importance".

Despite controversy in recent months regarding the adjustment costs for the smallest developing countries (see related article, this issue), Supachai suggested that the elimination of the quotas would benefit the global economy overall, and that the necessary structural adjustment must be a "steady and continuous process" for all Members. The TMB will cease to exist on 1 January 2005 with the expiry of the quotas on textiles and clothing that it was established to oversee.

ICTSD reporting; "Director-General’s remarks on the occasion of the 117th and Final Meeting of the Textiles Monitoring Body," WTO NEWS, 9 December 2004.

At its meeting on 13 December, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) granted a joint request by Australia, Thailand, Brazil (the complainants) and the European Communities (EC - the respondent) for an extension of the usual 60 day time-period for filing an appeal in the dispute on EC sugar subsidies (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 December 2004). The DSB agreed to extend the time-period for the EC to file its appeal from 14 December to 31 January 2005. As the panel report was issued on 15 October 2004, the 60 day time-period for appeal was due to expire on 14 December 2004.

ICTSD reporting.

WORKING GROUP ON TRADE, DEBT AND FINANCE FOCUSES ON ‘COHERENCE’

At its last meeting of the year on 10 December the WTO Working Group on Trade Debt and Finance (WGTDF) examined the theme of "better coherence in the design and implementation of trade-related reform and monitoring." As in previous meetings, international organisations with observer status in the WGTDF made presentations. A representative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) spoke on the issue of coherence between trade and finance based on UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report of 2004, and a World Bank official briefed the Working Group on its trade-related work aimed at alleviating supply-side constraints. The WGTDF also adopted its annual report for the General Council.

The Doha mandate requires Members to examine the relationship between trade, debt and finance. This came at the behest of developing countries seeking ways to reduce their external debt burden in the context of the multilateral trading system as well as those whose economies had been through financial crisis. The agenda of the WGTDF consists of three issue clusters: the relationship between trade and finance; the relationship between trade and debt; and greater policy coherence between relevant institutions (for further background on the WGTDF see Bridges Weekly, 17 July 2002).

UNCTAD’s presentation, WT/WGTDF/W/27 and The WGTDF 2004 report to the General Council, WT/WGTDF/3, are available at http://docsonline.wto.org

ICTSD reporting.