Bridges Trade BioRes

Volume 2 • Number 7 18th April 2002

  • CBD Working Group Adopts Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources
    CBD working group adopts guidelines on access to genetic resources At the Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on 7-19 April in The Hague, The Netherlands, Working Group II (WG-II) adopted the first-ever international guidelines on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing (ABS). The draft Decision containing the guidelines…
  • PrepCom III Fails to Agree on Draft Text for WSSD
    PrepCom III fails to agree on draft text for WSSD Delegates at the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom III) for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) on 25 March to 5 April in New York failed to achieve their objective of producing the first draft of a ‘review’ document for WSSD, instead asking…
  • China, Philippines Move Ahead on Biotech Regulation
    China, Philippines move ahead on biotech regulation China is considering its first biosafety law to regulate the country’s use and development of biotechnology, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports. According to officials of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), biosafety refers to potential negative impacts of living modified organisms in research, development, use and…
  • Mexican GM Maize Study Questioned
    Mexican GM maize study questioned In an unprecedented move, Nature — one of the world’s leading science journals based in London — has disavowed an article by Igancio Chapela and David Quist published in the journal last November which had found native varieties of corn grown in remote regions of Mexico to have been contaminated by…
  • In Brief
  • Indonesia Planning to Impose Log Export Ban
    On 12 April, a senior Indonesian trade and industry ministry official announced that Indonesia was planning to impose a permanent ban on exports of logs to protect its dwindling tropical forests. The move follows a temporary ban placed on exports of logs for wood chips that was put in place in October 2001 but expired…
  • Progress Recorded at CITES Animals Committee Meeting
    During the 18th meeting of the Animals Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), held in San José, Costa Rica from 8-12 April 2002, 110 participants from governments, and non- and intergovernmental organisations discussed, inter alia, implementation and review of Resolution Conf. 8.9 (Rev.) on significant…
  • Wildlife Trade Threatens Biodiversity in Asia
    Uncontrolled hunting and trade is the greatest threat to wildlife and wild lands in Asia, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) concluded at a four-day workshop in Thailand earlier this month which brought together the society’s field staff from nine Asian countries and experts from its New York headquarters. WCS noted that the global scale of…
  • Oxfam Report Attacks TRIPs Agreement as an Obstacle to Development
    On 11 April, Oxfam International (OI) released a 272-page report entitled “Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalisation and the Fight against Poverty” as part of its newly launched “Make Trade Fair” Campaign. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses, the report’s authors describe what they see as some of the hypocrisies in international…
  • In Brief
    Indonesia Planning To Impose Log Export Ban On 12 April, a senior Indonesian trade and industry ministry official announced that Indonesia was planning to impose a permanent ban on exports of logs to protect its dwindling tropical forests. The move follows a temporary ban placed on exports of logs for wood chips that was put in…
  • Events
  • Events
    For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. For further information on WTO events, contact the WTO Information and Media Relations Division, Geneva; tel: (41-22) 739- 5007; fax: 739-5458; email: enquiries@wto.org. Please bear in mind that dates and times of WTO meetings are often changed,…
  • 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). IMPLICATIONS OF WTO NEGOTIATIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY. By Friends of the…