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US Farmers Fear Export Losses from Biotech Wheat
A recent study — conducted by Iowa State University professor Robert Wisner — that states that the introduction of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready wheat might lead to a 30 to 50 percent drop in wheat exports from the US, has led farmers’ organisations and land conservation groups to ask the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to…
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Codex Task Force Adopts Final Biotech Standard
The Codex Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Food Derived from Biotechnology at its 11-14 March meeting adopted the Draft Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Produced Using Recombinant-DNA Microorganisms. This is the last of three draft standards on biotech food adopted by the Task Force, which will be submitted to…
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WTO Agriculture Deadline Increasingly out of Reach
The 31 March deadline for finalising the modalities for the current round of agriculture negotiations at the WTO is threatening to slip away as Members continue to remain miles apart in their willingness to liberalise agricultural trade. The first modalities draft presented by Stuart Harbinson, Chair of the special (negotiating) session of the WTO Committee…
- In Brief
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Supachai: Doha Round Prospects Dim in Shadow of War
As the world’s attention focussed on the impeding war against Iraq, WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi gave a speech at the Geneva Graduate Institute for International Studies, warning of the negative repercussions in the area of trade that a weakening of multilateralism may bring forth. At the 17 March event, he warned…
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World Forum Seeks Solutions on Global Water Issues in Japan
Ten thousand government officials, representatives of civil society and intergovernmental organisations, industry and water experts have gathered in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka to attend the third World Water Forum, running from 16 to 23 March. Participants will not debate water issues as such but instead aim to make concrete commitments and…
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In Brief
In Brief SUPACHAI: DOHA ROUND PROSPECTS DIM IN SHADOW OF WAR As the world’s attention focussed on the impeding war against Iraq, WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi gave a speech at the Geneva Graduate Institute for International Studies, warning of the negative repercussions in the area of trade that a weakening of multilateralism may bring forth. At…
- 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 16-23 March,…
- Resources
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Resources
"AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: WILL IT HELP?" By the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in FOCUS (March 2003). This article takes a brief look at the environmental and health related benefits and costs related to the use of agricultural biotechnology. REFORMING AGRICULTURAL MARKETS IN AFRICA. By Mylene Kherallah et al, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.…