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What Ambition for Doha?
Wrapping up the stock-taking week in March, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy indicated that the membership was “not where we wanted to be by now.” The goal of concluding the negotiations this year was quietly buried, and no new deadline was set. The WTO chief nevertheless stressed that all countries remained “very much committed to the…
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Ministerial Engagement Would Facilitate WTO Reform
WTO reform is not about strengthening a weak or bad organisation. Instead, it is about improving an already good institution. However, I equally believe that those who wish to deny or delay any and all reform will inadvertently weaken the institution over time, and erode its international relevance. There has been no shortage of thoughtful ideas…
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Wanted: A New Model for Multilateralism
Professor Howse suggests progress could be made by setting aside ‘harder’ issues on the agenda. But he does not say, nor is it obvious, which are the ‘easier’ ones on which agreements are ripe for the picking. If agriculture, the toughest nut of all, were off the table, would the G-20 be more flexible on industrial…
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Chairs Highlight Outstanding Issues in Doha Round
Ambassador David Walker, the chair of the farm negotiations, started his report by reviewing the ten areas in which he had held consultations on substantive differences. No forward movement has occurred on how to reduce cotton subsidies more ‘ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically’ than those for other agricultural products. Years ago, African countries put forward a formula…
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Renewed Engagement in Environmental Goods Talks
Many of the goods proposed for tariff elimination/reduction relate to energy-efficiency and climate change mitigation. The submissions were tabled in response to the chair’s request that countries start identifying specific goods in which they have a trade interest. Philippines Emphasises Renewable Energy The submission by the Philippines was the highlight of the meeting, trade sources said.…
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A Developing Country Perspective on the Way Forward for the Doha Round
First, continuing with the current process of ‘more of the same’ is likely to result in increasing frustration amongst Members and in a debilitation of the process as they retreat on current positions, leading to a de facto suspension of the negotiations. Second, new and creative ways will have to be found in the coming months…
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EU Farm Payments on the Rise, but Less Distorting
The latest official notification to the WTO shows that total EU support levels have returned to levels not seen since the previous decade, with €90.7 billion of support being reported to the global trade body for 2006/2007 - up from €75.6 billion in 2002, when support was at its lowest in the last fifteen years. The…
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Sanctions Delayed on Cotton Dispute at Least Until June
The centrepiece of the agreement is a US$147.3 million annual fund, which will provide technical assistance and capacity-building for the Brazilian cotton sector. By mutual agreement, the money may also be used for ‘activities related to international co-operation’ in the cotton sector in sub-Saharan African countries, Mercosur member/associate member states, Haiti, or “any other developing…
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Trade Sanctions Loom for US Zeroing
At issue is the Unites States’ use of ‘zeroing’ - a method that inflates dumping margins - in anti-dumping investigations despite a myriad of panel and Appellate Body reports condemning the practice. The EU claims that its exporters of steel, ball bearings, chemicals and pasta are particularly affected by artificially high anti-dumping duties. Although the US…
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Disputes in Brief
Shoes - China has requested a dispute settlement panel on anti-dumping duties imposed by the European Union on Chinese leather shoes. Beijing launched the complaint after the EU decided in December to prolong for another 15 months duties initially imposed in October 2006. Brussels has defended the tariffs, ranging from 9.7 to 16.5 percent, as…
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Non-tariff Measures in WTO Trade Policy Reviews
The WTO secretariat’s trade policy reviews (TPRs) contain long sections on the tariffs, subsidies and anti-dumping duties in place in the country under scrutiny. Dealing with these instruments is a gratifying since it is relatively easy to calculate average tariffs, add up subsidies and count anti-dumping measures. Any protectionist intent or harmful effects for the…
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Lessons for Low-income Countries from DR-CAFTA in Nicaragua
In the negotiations for the free trade agreement between the United States and Central American countries (DR-CAFTA), Nicaraguan business - with a focus on the privatisation of national industries, deregulation of capital investment and growth in export-oriented activities - was strengthened vis-à-vis civil society actors, such as the anti-CAFTA movement and the Iniciativa CID regional…
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EU, Colombia & Peru Clinch Trade Deals
In 2008, the EU was the Andean Community’s second largest trading partner after the US, but the region only accounted for 0.6 percent of EU imports. The trade is heavily lopsided with farm, fuel and mining products accounting for nearly 90 percent of Andean exports, while about the same percentage of their imports from the…
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Market Access Remains Linchpin of US Doha Agenda
Contrary to the perception of most WTO Members, the 2010 Trade Policy Agenda released by the Office of the US Trade Representative on 1 March depicts the United States as the leader of efforts to put the Doha Round onto a ‘path of success’ after repeated failures to agree on a framework package of tariff…
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Amflora: Europe’s New Hot Potato
The European Commission said its 2 March decision to authorise the cultivation of the genetically engineered Amflora potato was based on repeated favourable opinions from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Only one other GM crop, the MON18 maize variety, has ever been approved for cultivation in the EU, and that was 12 years ago. According…
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ACTA Text Is Released, but Many Questions Remain
The countries involved in the negotiations are Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the US. At first glance, the draft appears to bear out their claims that ACTA would not require participants to change their intellectual property laws. They will have no obligation to take measures with…
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Conservation Loses to Trade Interests at CITES Meeting
Monaco had proposed to list Atlantic bluefin in CITES Appendix I, which covers flora and fauna on the brink of extinction. International trade in Appendix I species is prohibited, but can be resumed at a later stage if member governments agree that populations have recovered to the point where trade no longer represents a threat.…
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It’s Time to Act on Climate Change
Rising greenhouse gas emissions - mostly resulting from human activity - not only threaten our environment, but undermine development and have dramatic and negative consequences for our economic and social well-being, with the most negative effects being felt by the poor. In order to not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own…
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Downbeat Mood for Cancun
Governments have already started to downplay the possibility of reaching agreement on a legally binding global climate treaty this year. For instance, EU climate change commissioner Connie Hedegaard warned in March that trying to force a deal at the December 2010 Conference of the Parties, to be held in Cancun, could be counterproductive as a…
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EPA Fisheries Talks: An Opportunity to Tackle SPS Measures
Fish is the most internationally traded food commodity, with tropical shrimp among the most valuable products. In addition to their value in trade, fisheries-related activities provide an important source of employment, export revenue and food security to many African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Internationally, fisheries represent one of the few sectors in which their…
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Ethanol: to Tariff or Not to Tariff?
On 5 April, Brazil surprised the world by announcing a temporary elimination of its 20 percent import tariff on ethanol until 31 December 2011. The main motive behind the move was to encourage the United States to follow suit, but that outcome looks unlikely. Bipartisan bills have already been introduced in both chambers of Congress, providing…
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Meeting Calendar
WTO Meetings May 18 Committee on Trade and Development May 18 Dispute Settlement Body May 19 Council on Trade in Goods May 31 Trade Policy Review Body - China June 4 Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance June 6-8 TRIPS Council June 14-15 Committee on Regional Trade Agreements June 22 Dispute Settlement…
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Resources
Selected Documents Circulated at the WTO Agriculture. 28 January 2010. Refocusing Discussions on the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM): Outstanding Issues and Concerns on its Design and Structure. Submission by the G-33. (TN/AG/GEN/30) Dispute Settlement. 8 February 2010. European Union - Anti-dumping Measures on Certain Footwear from China. Request for consultations by China. (WT/DS405/1) Dispute…
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Facts and Figures
In 2009, total net official development assistance (ODA)from the donors in the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee rose 0.7 percent in real terms, but the increase was 6.8 percent if debt relief is excluded. Net bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa was US$24 billion, up by 5.1 percent from 2008. US assistance to the region increased…