Discuss this articleShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say
European Commission launches a consultation on development
How can the EU ensure the impact of its development policy, facilitate more inclusive and sustainable growth in developing countries, and achieve tangible results in the area of agriculture and food security? These are the questions the European Commission invites its stakeholders, notably its partners in developing countries, to reflect upon in the context of a consultation on the EC Green Paper released in November and dubbed “EU development policy in support of inclusive growth and sustainable development - Increasing the impact of EU development policy.” The results shall fuel EC proposals in the second half of 2011 on how to modernise European development policy and other policy processes in related areas. The consultation document and the related questionnaire can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/development/how/consultation/index.cfm?action=viewcons&id=5241&lng=en.
European Commission publishes farm policy proposal
The European Commission has published a long-awaited proposal outlining how the bloc’s substantial farm subsidy scheme could be maintained in the post-2013 seven-year budgetary cycle, but refocused on more clearly defined policy outcomes such as environmental goals. The communication is intended to initiate a discussion among EU institutions about the future of Europe’s farm policy in the years ahead. The final version of the communication is largely identical to an earlier draft that was leaked to the public although it does also contain a few potentially significant changes. Like its precursor, the published document recommends that a future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for Europe should focus on three objectives: viable food production, sustainable management of natural resources and climate action, and balanced territorial development. However, the revised text more explicitly argues that, “given that demand worldwide will continue rising,” it is essential that EU agriculture “maintains its productive capacity.” At the same time, the document now notes, the bloc will need to ensure it respects “EU commitments in international trade and Policy Coherence for Development.” The proposal is available at : http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/communication/index_en.htm
Source: Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest.
EU to focus on bilateral deals, Doha, and beyond
The European Commission has released a blueprint for an EU trade strategy that would help boost growth and job creation in Europe. The paper, made public on 9 November, does not represent a significant departure from the EU’s four-year-old “global Europe” strategy, which called for FTAs with some key partners, cooperation to reduce non-tariff barriers with others, efforts to open up public procurement and investment markets, and the enforcement of existing trade commitments. In this paper, the Commission focuses on how lowering trade barriers could help the Europe recover from the global economic downturn, looking at potential contributions to increased growth, purchasing power, and employment. The report is intended to highlight trade’s role in the EU’s growth strategy for the upcoming decade, dubbed Europe 2020.
The report promises two development-related announcements in 2011: a reform of the EU’s “general system of preferences” (GSP) scheme, and a communication on trade and development that will set out views on issues such as special and differential treatment for developing countries and how trade can help countries hit by natural disasters.
Source: Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest.
EU revises GSP, promises more opportunities for developing countries
The European Commission announced on 18 November that it had adopted a regulation to streamline its guidelines on rules of origin under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The shift is meant to make it easier for the EU’s developing country trading partners to take advantage of the special trade preferences that are allowed under the GSP, the EU said in a press release. The changes will take effect as of 1 January.
“Rules of origin” govern whether goods qualify for lower tariffs under a particular trade deal, based on where the goods were produced. Developing countries have long said that such rules are so stringent and complex that they render any new market access potential essentially meaningless. But the EC vowed that its new regulation will “considerably simplify” the rules of origin by tailoring them to specific sectors and processing methods, among other things. The new regulation also sets out a revised procedure, to take effect in 2017, for showing proof of origin and includes special concessions for least developed countries.
For more information, please see the EU press release: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1526&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
Report looks at opportunities and challenges of intra-ACP fisheries trade
A new report from the Commonwealth Secretariat examines how African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries can respond to the newly liberalised global trade in fisheries, beyond negotiating for longer implementation times or special mechanisms for compensation. The study concludes that one option is for ACP countries to find new markets, especially within the ACP, for exports of fish and fish products. Another option is for ACP states to focus on improving value-addition and creating new value chains, given growing demand for fresh and frozen products and relatively stagnant or declining demand for canned (and cured) products.
The report is available on the website of the Commonwealth Secretariat: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/231716/opportunities_and_challenges_for_intra_acp_trade.htm
New paper examines Lisbon Treaty’s trade impact
A recently released short paper written by Christopher Stevens and Paul Goodison for the Overseas Development Institute examines how the EU’s recently enacted Lisbon Treaty will affect the bloc’s trade with ACP countries. Among other things, it considers the potential ramifications of the creation of the EU’s Common Commercial Policy, the establishment of the European External Action Service, and the delegation of certain new powers to the European Parliament.
The paper can be found on the ODI website: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/5111.pdf
Study urges focus on domestic resource mobilisation
To bounce back from the economic crisis, developing countries - especially those in sub-Saharan Africa - should concentrate on mobilising their domestic resources, economists Eric Kehinde Ogunleye and Desire Adebimpe Fashina argue in a report that they presented at the African Economic Conference in Tunis in October. The study, which was published by the African Development Bank, also urges countries to harmonise their tax systems and develop systems to punish corrupt tax officials.
The report is available on the AfDB website: http://www.afdb.org/en/aec/papers/the-imperatives-for-domestic-resource-mobilization-for-sustained-post-crisis-recovery-and-growth-in-sub-saharan-africa/
World Bank Releases Draft Strategy for Africa
The World Bank has completed a first draft of its next five-year strategy for Africa, which is now open for comment online. The World Bank noted a range of positive signs and concluded that “Africa in 2010 has an unprecedented opportunity for transformation and sustained growth.” According to the report, Africa’s private sector is increasingly attracting investment, with much of the funding coming from domestic banks and investors, and returns are among the highest in the world. Large sums are flowing in from the BRICS, and private capital flows into the continent are higher than official development assistance. The role of the World Bank will be to leverage the funding “to crowd-in other sources of financing.”
The report also clearly spelled out the challenges the continent faces. Among other things, high costs and perceived risks of doing business in Africa hurt export competitiveness and keep businesses from forming or relocating to the continent, said the report. The rapidly emerging economies, especially China, have great demand for Africa’s natural resources. The World Bank stressed that getting value out of these resource exports depends critically on governance. Land is another resource, “whose potential depends on a sound regulatory environment, with incentives and enforcement systems in place for good governance.” Meanwhile, the infrastructure gap is also widening, and this disadvantages exports from Africa.
To address these issues, the World Bank draft strategy centres on three interdependent themes: (i) competitiveness and employment, (ii) vulnerability and resilience; and (iii) governance and public-sector capacity. On trade, the World Bank would like to see a doubling of Africa’s share of world trade to eight percent. The strategy also emphasises the merits of regional trade integration. Integration in the area of infrastructure could also provide significant opportunities to improve the export outlook, the report said.
To read or comment on the draft strategy online, please see http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:22578261%7EpagePK:146736%7EpiPK:146830%7EtheSitePK:258644,00.html.
Source: Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest
New Development Fund to Address Food Security, Climate Change
A new research initiative funded by several global development agencies will attempt to tackle threats to agriculture and food security resulting from climate change. The US$200 million project, known as the Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), will explore new ways of helping vulnerable rural communities adjust to global changes in climate. The ten-year project will also attempt to help the agriculture sector in vulnerable countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat future food productivity and security challenges that are expected to arise due to climate change.
The research initiative - operated under the auspices of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) - seeks to simultaneously address development and climate change. As such, the CCAFS aims to take on agricultural challenges and reduce poverty by 10 percent in targeted “hot spot” regions in Africa and India between now and 2020. The initiative has also set a target of reducing malnutrition in these hot spot areas by 25 percent, while simultaneously helping farmers in developing countries contribute to climate change mitigation. The collaborative CGIAR-ESSP project is being funded by countries including Canada, Denmark, the United States, as well as the World Bank. It will be coordinated by the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
Source: Bridges Trade BioRes
WIPO copyright body to negotiate on limitations and exceptions
The World Intellectual Property Organization’s copyright committee agreed late last Friday on a work programme for 2011-2012 focusing on limitations and exceptions to the protection of copyrighted material. The eleventh-hour agreement, reached at midnight after a week of talks, should pave the way for “real negotiations” and not just mere discussions.
The Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) had failed to reach agreement on a way forward at its previous meeting last June. In their statements last week, developing countries emphasised the need to move forward on the issue of exceptions and limitations, which was crucial to improve access to copyrighted materials by blind people and groups like libraries, particularly in developing countries. They pointed to the many elements of convergence between the various proposals on the table.
In 2009, a group of Latin American countries (Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Ecuador) had tabled a proposal for a treaty to facilitate access to copyrighted material by visually impaired people. The proposal had originally been prepared by the World Blind Union (WBU). After some initial reluctance to address the matter through norm-setting, the United States and the European Union followed suit with proposals of their own last June: instead of a treaty, the former wanted a “consensus instrument,” the latter, a non-binding “draft recommendation.” The African Group, for its part, proposed a treaty on limitations and exceptions for the disabled, education and research institutions, libraries and archive centres, expressing its preference for a ‘holistic approach’ in addressing expressions and limitations.
The final compromise text “recogni[ses] the need to advance the more mature areas” and indicates that the committee will undertake text-based work on the two sets of limitations and exceptions (i.e., print disabilities on one hand, and educational, teaching and research institutions/libraries and archives along with ‘persons with other disabilities’ on the other). It makes no mention of the possibility of convening a diplomatic conference, and simply states that “the Committee is requested to submit recommendations to the General Assemblies” on limitations and exceptions for persons with print and other disabilities, and will also “undertake” to do so for limitations and exceptions on educational, teaching and research institutions/libraries and archives, according to a timetable for 2011-2012. However, the preamble does make reference to the SCCR’s “authority to make a recommendation to convene a Diplomatic Conference.”
Source: Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest
Add a comment
Enter your details and a comment below, then click Submit Comment. We’ll review and publish the best comments.