Bridges Trade BioRes

Volume 2 • Number 2 7th February 2002

  • WTO Trade Negotiations Committee Agrees on Procedures for Trade Talks
    WTO Trade Negotiations Committee Agrees on Procedures for Trade Talks The WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) — the body charged with the overall conduct of the new round of free trade talks launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 22 November 2001) — met on 1 February following last-minute convergence among WTO…
  • Members Split on 'Development Box' in Agriculture
    Members Split on ‘Development Box’ in Agriculture On 4-6 February, WTO Members met for the last Special Session in the current Phase II of the ongoing agriculture negotiations held under the auspices of the Committee on Agriculture (CoA) to discuss mainly development-related issues, including the establishment of a so-called “Development Box”, as well as special and…
  • European Commission Not to Force Biotech Issue at EU Summit
    European Commission Not to Force Biotech Issue at EU Summit The European Commission last week decided not to push for an end of the EU de facto moratorium on the approval of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) at the EU summit in March, but will instead focus on the issue of EU competitiveness in the field…
  • Activists Call for a Treaty to Share the Genetic Commons
    Activists Call for a Treaty to Share the Genetic Commons Biotechnology activists at a workshop held during the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on 2 February launched The Treaty Initiative to Share the Genetic Commons, proclaiming that the global gene pool should be treated as a collective responsibility and a commons that must not be…
  • Trade Features in Discussions at WSSD Prep Meeting
    Trade Features in Discussions at WSSD Prep Meeting The interlinkages between trade liberalisation and sustainable development featured throughout discussions amongst delegates and NGOs at both the Second Preparatory Meeting (PrepCom-II) for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) (28 January to 8 February, New York) and a multi-stakeholder dialogue (29-31 January) involving all major groups…
  • In Brief
  • China Voices Anger over EU Food Bans
    China has reacted angrily to a European ban on Chinese honey, shrimp, and other foodstuffs, alleged to contain traces of banned antibiotics, claiming that the EU findings were “not accurate”. “The Chinese side cannot accept this decision,” said Chinese Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng. This is China’s first complaint about a European trade measure since its…
  • WEF: WTO Chiefs Want Greater Priority for Agriculture
    At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in New York (31 January - 4 February), WTO Director-General Mike Moore and DG Designate Supachai Panitchpakdi called on industrialised countries to put agriculture at the top of the agenda of the new round of trade liberalisation talks launched in Doha, Qatar, in November last year. “If we seriously…
  • UK Report Assesses Danger of GM Superweeds
    UK Report Assesses Danger of GM Superweeds A study of GM herbicide tolerant oilseed rape crops in Canada — commissioned by English Nature, one of the UK’s statutory nature conservation agencies — showed that genes from separate genetically modified (GM) varieties could accumulate (’gene stacking’) in plants that grow from seed spilled at harvest. As a…
  • In Brief
    China Voices Anger Over EU Food Bans China has reacted angrily to a European ban on Chinese honey, shrimp, and other foodstuffs, alleged to contain traces of banned antibiotics, claiming that the EU findings were "not accurate". "The Chinese side cannot accept this decision," said Chinese Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng. This is China’s first complaint about…
  • Events
  • Events
    For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. Coming Up In the Next Two Weeks 9-11 February, New Delhi, India: THE DELHI SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT 2002. The forum aims to assimilate knowledge and directions for the WSSD (Johannesburg, September 2002) with the aim to recharge the political…
  • Resources
  • 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. Submissions of publications to ICTSD’s documentation centre would also be welcome (contact Matteo Rizzolli). GENETICALLY MODIFIED PLANTS FOR FOOD USE AND HUMAN HEALTH -…