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Intellectual Property Among Key Issues as WTO Deadlines Loom
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AMONG KEY ISSUES AS WTO DEADLINES LOOM WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi at the meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee on 4-6 December gave a “mixed” assessment of progress in the current round of negotiations, calling on governments to show “courage and leadership now” if the round is to be completed as scheduled on 1…
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Developing Countries Raise Biodiversity Concerns in WIPO
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES RAISE BIODIVERSITY CONCERNS IN WIPO The WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organization] Standing Committee on the Law of Patents met on 25-29 November in Geneva to continue negotiations on a possible treaty covering substantive patent law at the international level. Among the issues discussed were proposals by several developing countries calling for flexibility to implement…
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Trade Issues Spilling Over into Wetland Negotiations
TRADE ISSUES SPILLING OVER INTO WETLAND NEGOTIATIONS On 18-26 November, Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands met in Valencia, Spain, for their eighth Conference (COP-8) to discuss “Wetlands: Water, Life, and Culture”. Trade-related considerations, while not traditionally discussed widely within Rasmar, penetrated many of the negotiations, including on agriculture, traditional activities…
- In Brief
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European AG and Environment Councils Agree on GMO Regulations
The European Councils of Agriculture and Environment Ministers, meeting on 28 November and 9 December respectively, reached political agreement on the European Commission’s proposed labelling and traceability regulations, despite objections by Luxembourg, the UK, Austria and the Netherlands. Specifically, Ministers agreed on a 0.5 percent threshold for the adventitious presence of genetically modified…
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China Extends Transition Period for GMO Import Regulations
China has postponed entry into force of its import regulations for genetically modified organisms until 20 September 2003. The regulations were originally scheduled to come into effect on 21 December 2002. During the transition period, imports will still be required to obtain preliminary safety approvals. The application for such permits will need to be accompanied…
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Dolphins Might Still Be Threatened by Tuna Fishing, Report Concludes
Dolphins in the Pacific are not recovering as quickly as could be expected given significant reductions in reported mortality associated with yellowfish tuna fishing, according to a report prepared by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Three hypotheses are identified to explain this finding, i.e. environmental changes,…
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Megadiverse Countries Set Up Working Group on Benefit-Sharing
State Ministers and high-ranking representatives from the Group of Like-minded Megadiverse Countries at their meeting on 29 November in Cusco, Peru, agreed to establish an ad-hoc working group to develop a proposal for submission to the next meeting of the Group in Malaysia (2003) containing mechanisms to guarantee the fair and equitable sharing of benefits…
- Events
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Events
For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. 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. Coming up in the next two weeks 9-13 December,…
- Resources
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Resources
If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy or review by the BRIDGES staff to Heike Baumüller. "The precautionary principle and ecological hazards of genetically modified organisms" by Mario Giampietro in AMBIO 31 (6, 2002). This paper makes three points relevant…