Bridges Trade BioRes

Volume 6 • Number 2 3rd February 2006

  • WTO PANEL CREATED ON EU-BRAZIL RETREADED TYRE DISPUTE
    WTO PANEL CREATED ON EU-BRAZIL RETREADED TYRE DISPUTE The WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on 20 January established a panel to consider an EU complaint against Brazil’s import restrictions on retreaded tyres. The EU argues that the measures are quantitative restrictions forbidden by WTO rules, and also violate the GATT principles of most-favoured nation (MFN) and…
  • CBD: POTENTIAL TEXT ON ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING REGIME TABLED
    CBD: POTENTIAL TEXT ON ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING REGIME TABLED Delegates at a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing in Granada, Spain from 30 January to 3 February examined draft text for an international regime on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing.…
  • NEW TROPICAL TIMBER TRADE AGREEMENT CREATED
    NEW TROPICAL TIMBER TRADE AGREEMENT CREATED Representatives from over 180 governments and international organisations reached consensus on a successor pact to the 1994 International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) on 27 January, following two weeks of intensive negotiations in Geneva. The new commodities agreement aims to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in legally…
  • In Brief
  • WTO Biotech Panel Report Delayed Yet Again
    A WTO dispute panel has once again postponed the release of its preliminary report on the case brought by the US, Canada and Argentina against what they allege was an EU moratorium on the approval of new biotech products. On 30 January, panel Chair Christian Haeberli told the countries involved that the 1 February delivery…
  • US-Peru FTA Published, Controversy Ensues Over Biodiversity
    Controversy on the ramifications of the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) signed on 7 December 2005 has ensued since the US government published the agreement and an understanding on biodiversity and traditional knowledge in early January (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 9 December 2005). In its intellectual property chapter, Peru committed itself, to ratifying the International…
  • Traditional Knowledge Meeting Revisits Gurts, Sui Generis Systems
    In the week preceding the access and benefit-sharing negotiations (see related story, this issue), the Working Group on Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held its fourth meeting also in Spain, focusing on the Article in the Convention that looks at the need to respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices…
  • Fisheries, Sustainable Development Links Probed
    The Third Global Conference on “Oceans, Coasts and Islands: Moving the Global Oceans Agenda Forward” on 28 January in Paris called on the global community to intensify efforts to protect the planet’s threatened oceans and endangered coastal areas and communities. The Conference was hosted by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and organised…
  • African Ministers, FAO Focus on Agriculture, Biotechnology
    Ministers of Agriculture from across Africa met in Bamako, Mali, from 31 January to 1 February for an African Union Ministers of Agriculture meeting, and also for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 24th Regional Conference for Africa on 30 January and 2 February. Participants focused on food security in Africa, with relevant…
  • Argentina Considers International Recourse Against Uruguayan Pulp Mills
    An Ad-hoc bi-national commission established to resolve a conflict between Argentina and Uruguay over potential river pollution from two pulp mills under construction in Uruguay reported on 30 January that it was unable to produce a common report within the 180-day timeline allowed. The bi-national commision cited a split in opinion between the four Argentinean…
  • 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 6-7 February,…
  • 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. OUT OF AFRICA: MYSTERIES OF ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING. By Jay McGown (Edmonds Institute and the African Centre for Biosafety, January 2006). This report…