Bridges Trade BioRes

Volume 5 • Number 4 4th March 2005

  • WTO FISHERIES SUBSIDIES TALKS MOVE FORWARD
    WTO FISHERIES SUBSIDIES TALKS MOVE FORWARD Fisheries subsidies negotiations at the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules on 21-23 February focused on a new submission by Japan — this time officially supported by Korea and Chinese Taipei — outlining further details on its approach to developing subsidies disciplines. Many observers expressed cautious optimism regarding the progress…
  • Environmental Goods Dominate CTE Agenda
    ENVIRONMENTAL GOODS DOMINATE CTE AGENDA Delegates at the special session of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) on 24-25 February focused their discussions almost entirely on environmental goods, with new submissions by Korea, New Zealand and the EC. Several of the developed countries urged Members to pick up the pace with the aim of…
  • FAULT LINES SURFACE AT ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING NEGOTIATIONS
    FAULT LINES SURFACE AT ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING NEGOTIATIONS Delegates at the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Ad hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS), convening from 14 to 18 February in Bangkok, Thailand, used the meeting to further clarify their positions on the objectives and nature of an international regime on ABS. The…
  • LATIN AMERICAN GMO UPDATE: MEXICO, BRAZIL, PARAGUAY
    LATIN AMERICAN GMO UPDATE: MEXICO, BRAZIL, PARAGUAY Mexican Senate approves biotech bill The Mexican Senate passed legislation authorising the planting and sale of genetically modified (GM) crops on 15 February. The law was drafted by the Senate in early 2003 with input from the Mexican Academy of Sciences (AMC) and approved in April of that…
  • In Brief
  • 'Rough Row' Erupts Over Subsidies on Cultural Goods
    European and several developing country representatives clashed with the United States, Japan, Mexico and India on subsidies to protect cultural diversity at a UNESCO meeting held from 31 January to 14 February in Paris. The second session of the intergovernmental meeting of experts on the Preliminary Draft Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of…
  • US, CAFTA-DR Sign Environmental Accords
    The US, five Central American nations (Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala) and the Dominican Republic signed two environmental agreements associated with the free trade agreement (Central American Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic, CAFTA-DR) that the seven countries concluded in August 2004. The “’Environmental Cooperation Agreement’ outlines a framework for…
  • Countries Divide Over Regulating Mercury at UNEP Council
    Delegates meeting for the 23rd session of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council (GC) on 21-25 February in Nairobi, Kenya, were unable to agree on the need for a legally binding international instrument governing mercury. While Switzerland, Norway and the EU supported calls for a binding instrument to constrain production and trade of…
  • Tropical Timber Conference Continues Scope Debate
    The United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) 1994, convening for their second meeting from 14-16 February in Geneva, failed to make headway on discussions relating to the scope and financial basis of the new agreement. Based upon debates started at first round of negotiations…
  • Food Transport Hurts Environment, Report Finds
    Buying locally grown food is an effective way to reduce climate change, according to a new study by Professor Jules Pretty of Essex University and Tim Lang of London’s City University published on 2 March. The study shows that while only a small percentage of international trade in food travels by sea or plane, the…
  • 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. Coming up in the next two weeks 7-11 March,…
  • 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. MATRIX ON TRADE MEASURES PURSUANT TO SELECTED MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS. WTO (February 2005). The Secretariat of the World Trade Organization has prepared a note…