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Lamy: Talks Now In 'Red Zone,' Members Need To Compromise
Time is running out for WTO Members to reach a framework deal on Doha Round subsidy and tariff cuts, Director-General Pascal Lamy warned on 15 May. "We are now in the red zone, and… we are not far from the red part of this red zone," he told the General Council, "the more we move…
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Falconer Urges Members To Narrow Differences On Sensitive Products
WTO agriculture negotiations Chair Ambassador Crawford Falconer (New Zealand) is urging Members to try to narrow their differences to a "more manageable level" on both the number of ’sensitive’ farm products and the extent to which they will be shielded from the full force of tariff cuts. In an 11 May ‘reference paper,’ as well as…
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WTO Members Clash On Evaluation, Liberalisation Of Environmental Goods
At an informal 10-12 May technical meeting of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session (CTE-SS), Members were split on how to evaluate whether certain wastewater and solid and hazardous waste management products could be described as "environmental" for the purposes of expedited trade liberalisation. While several developing countries maintained that a single…
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New Text Proposals For Fisheries Subsidies Disciplines On The WTO Table
WTO talks on fisheries subsidies made considerable headway at the 8-10 May meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules, with three new submissions tabled proposing draft text for the eventual disciplines. Brazil’s revised draft text — presented by Fisheries Minister Jose Fritsch in a strong show of political support — attracted much attention at the meeting,…
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AG: Disagreements Still Remain On Export Competition
As the first fortnight of an intensive six-week cycle of agriculture negotiations drew to a close on 12 May, WTO Members remained divided on how to develop disciplines on a range of policies that could have an effect tantamount to that of export subsidies, so that these practices can be eliminated together by 2013. ‘Export…
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EU, NAMA-11 Call For New Mechanism To Deal With NTBs
The EU and the NAMA-11 group of developing countries* have called for the establishment of a new WTO mechanism to rapidly mediate bilateral conflicts over non-tariff barriers (NTBs) affecting trade in goods. However, sources report that at an informal meeting on 15 May, Members including Canada, Japan, and the US questioned the need for a…
- In Brief
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In Brief
US-ECUADOR FTA TALKS ON HOLD AFTER ECUADOR CANCELS OCCIDENTAL CONTRACT The Bush administration has frozen free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Ecuador, following the Andean nation’s 15 May decision to void its contract with US-based Occidental Petroleum Corporation, the latest development in a longstanding dispute. The Ecuadorean government insists that Occidental violated its contract…
- WTO in Brief
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WTO In Brief
G-33 CRITICISES FALCONER’S SP PAPER; DEVELOPING COUNTRY GROUPS REITERATE IMPORTANCE OF SP/SSM In an 11 May submission, the G-33 group of developing countries described the WTO agriculture chair’s criticism of the market access flexibilities they seek as being "contrary to the spirit of the Doha mandate, the provisions of the…
- Events
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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 : 18-24 May 19-20 May, Shirakawa, Japan: BUSINESS FORUM ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. This invitation-only forum is organised by the World Sustainable Development Forum…
- Resources
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Resources
GLOBAL MONITORING REPORT 2006. By Mark Sundberg et al. World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), April 2006. The third annual Global Monitoring Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) examines the progress made towards meeting the MDGs. The report focuses on poverty and malnutrition, human development outcomes, commitments on aid, trade and debt…