-
No Breakthroughs In Rio; US Lawmaker Urges Bush Admn To Switch Focus To Bilateral FTAs
Following an inconclusive summit in Rio de Janeiro with his counterparts from Brazil and the EU, US Trade Representative Rob Portman told the press on 4 April that he was pessimistic about WTO Members’ chances of meeting a 30 April deadline for a comprehensive agreement on modalities for subsidy and tariff cuts. Meanwhile, an influential…
-
Malaysian Informal Paper On Special Products Draws Objections From G-33
A Malaysian informal paper on how developing countries might designate ’special products’ (SPs) for less stringent liberalisation requirements has raised the ire of Members including the G-33, the group of developing countries that have long lobbied for such flexibilities. Circulated to a 23 March meeting of 25-30 delegations during the recent agriculture week, the paper…
-
CBD COP Sets 2010 Deadline For Agreement On Access And Benefit Sharing
The eighth Conference of the Parties (COP-8) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came to a close in Curitiba, Brazil, on 31 March with an agreement to conclude negotiations by 2010 on an international regime for governing access to genetic resources and the sharing of resources derived from their use (’access and benefit sharing,’…
-
SPS CTTE Discusses EU Novel Foods Regulation
At a meeting of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures on 29-30 March, several developing countries expressed concerns that the EU’s new draft rules on ‘novel foods’ — those introduced to the EU market relatively recently — would hinder their ability to export "small exotic traditional products" based on their rich biodiversity. The EU’s…
- In Brief
-
In Brief
CRITICS QUESTION VALUE OF WHO COMMISSION REPORT ON INNOVATION, IP AND PUBLIC HEALTH After more than two years of work, the report produced by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Commission on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH) was made public on 1 April. The study examines the relationship between intellectual property (IP), research and development…
- WTO in Brief
-
Members React To ‘Cotton Four’ Domestic Support Proposal
At the WTO Cotton Sub-Committee meeting held on 27 March, the US expressed opposition to a proposal by Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali that would require trade-distorting subsidies for cotton to be cut more deeply and quickly than those for other commodities in the agriculture negotiations (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 March 2006). The so-called…
- Events
-
Events
EVENTS For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. If you would like to submit an event, please email us. Upcoming : 6 - 12 April 7-8 April, New Delhi, India: WORKSHOP ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Organised by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs…
- Resources
-
Resources
TRADE, FDI, AND THE ORGANIZATION OF FIRMS. By Elhanan Helpman. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper No. 12091, March 2006. This paper seeks to provide a better understanding of the changes in trade and investment patterns and the reorganisation of production across national borders with the new developments in the world economy. It…