Bridges Trade BioRes

Volume 5 • Number 22 9th December 2005

  • Environment @ Hong Kong
    Environmental issues may crop up at the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference being held on 13-18 December in Hong Kong, China, but are likely to be overshadowed by developmental and other concerns (see related story, this issue). The issues most likely to arise include environmental goods and services (EGS), fisheries subsidies and disclosure requirements for patents…
  • Intellectual Property Rights @ Hong Kong
    Calls to start negotiations on requirements to disclose the origin of genetic resources in patent applications have figured high in intellectual property-related negotiations in the lead-up to the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. In addition to discussions in the Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the need to introduce such requirements to prevent…
  • WHAT'S AT STAKE IN
    WHAT’S AT STAKE IN HONG KONG? Despite low expectations for movement on the major negotiating areas in the current round of trade talks, many WTO Members are hopeful that agreement on a ‘development package’ might be reached at the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong on 13-18 December. Since November, negotiators have recognised that deadlock…
  • CBD CONSIDERS INCENTIVES TO SUPPORT BIODIVERSITY
    CBD CONSIDERS INCENTIVES TO SUPPORT BIODIVERSITY At the eleventh meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-11) held from 28 November to 2 December in Montreal, Canada, Parties to the CBD considered what measures the group could take to ensure the conservation, sustainable use and fair…
  • In Brief
  • Darwin's Nightmare Misconceptualises Fish Trade, IUCN Says
    The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization and IUCN-The World Conservation Organization on 8 December sent a letter to the creator of “Darwin’s Nightmare” — a documentary by Hubert Sauper that has won sixteen awards and is nominated for an Oscar award for its depiction of the trade in the Nile Perch fish from Lake Victoria —…
  • EU Requests Dispute Panel on Brazilian Retreaded Tyre Ban
    During a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on 28 November 2005, the EU asked for the establishment of a WTO panel to determine whether a Brazilian import ban on retreaded tyres breaks WTO law. Brazil argues that the ban can be justified on environmental and human health grounds (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 8…
  • Gabon and Comoros Sign New Fisheries Agreement with EU
    Comoros and Gabon signed new fisheries partnership agreements with the EU on 1 and 3 December respectively that will last for six years and aim to promote sustainable fisheries and policy cooperation under the EU Common Fisheries Policy. While the Comoros deal decreases the number of foreign vessels allowed to fish by 12 percent, the…
  • EC Approves Danish Tax on GM Crops for Co-existence
    The European Commission on 23 November authorised a Danish law that requires farmers growing GM crops to pay an annual tax of 13.4 Euros (US$15.84) per hectare of land into a fund to compensate conventional and organic farmers whose crops are contaminated by genetically modified (GM) crops. The Commission’s authorisation will allow Denmark to enforce…
  • Countries Strike Eleventh Hour Deal on Climate Change
    At the first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP-1) on 28 November to 9 December in Montreal, Canada, governments reached what environmental groups called “a historic agreement” on how to tackle climate change in the future. After working through Friday night, delegates adopted the “Montreal Action Plan” which commits industrialised countries to…
  • China Delays GM Rice Approval
    China’s Agricultural genetically modified organism (GMO) Biosafety Committee was unable to reach consensus on 24 November whether to commercialise Xa21, a rice strain genetically modified to be resistant to disease. The three-day bi-annual meeting of the national body decided to ask the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, who developed the variety to…
  • Events
  • 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. ICTSD Environment-related at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference 13-17…
  • 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 Sarah Mohan. ICTSD Resources TRADING IN GENES: DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES ON BIOTECHNOLOGY, TRADE AND SUSTAINABILITY. Edited by Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz and Vicente Sanchez (International Centre for Trade and Sustainable…