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AG: WTO Members Fire Opening Salvoes On Market Access As Countdown To End-June Begins
WTO Members kicked off a fresh round of discussions on agricultural market access at the end of last week, with the clock ticking towards an end-June deadline for a framework deal. The chair of the negotiations announced on 2 June that he would suspend all small group consultations — barring any sudden moves towards compromise…
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Developing Countries Propose Trips Amendment Requiring Disclosure In Patent Applications
Several developing countries led by India on 31 May formally proposed text for an amendment to WTO intellectual property rules that would make it mandatory for patent applicants to disclose the use of any biological resources or associated traditional knowledge in their inventions. However, it has not affected Members’ basic disagreement on how best to…
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Domestic Farm Subsidies: Members Continue To Tinker Round The Edges
WTO Members remain broadly divided on how to cut farm payments, less than two weeks before the chair of the negotiations is supposed to produce a draft framework agreement on both agricultural subsidies and tariffs. They did, however, signal some flexibility on minor technical issues related to relatively less trade-distorting forms of support during informal…
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Three Years Later, Compromise Still Elusive On 'Harder' S&D Proposals
Compromise remained far off as delegates considered eight proposals for specific changes to special and differential treatment (S&D) provisions in WTO agreements for the first time since 2003. "The middle ground is not visible," said Chair Ambassador Burhan Gafoor (Singapore) in his gloomy summary of the discussions at a 1 June meeting of the Committee…
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New Proposals On SVEs Tabled As Members Remain Divided On NAMA
Countries remain divided in the WTO negotiations on industrial tariffs, with only a few weeks remaining before a new end-June deadline for a framework agreement. A 2 June meeting at the end of a week’s non-agricultural market access (NAMA) talks saw several delegations repeat longstanding positions. Each claimed its own views were vindicated by a…
- In Brief
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In Brief
APEC MINISTERS CALL FOR DOHA ROUND RESUSCITATION Pacific Rim trade ministers tried to give a boost to the WTO’s tortuous Doha Round negotiations during a meeting on 1-2 June in Ho Chi Minh City. The representatives from the 21-members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), representing 47 percent of world trade,…
- WTO in Brief
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WTO In Brief
EU IN COMPLIANCE WITH SUGAR RULING, BRUSSELS INSISTS In a 2 June status report to WTO Members, the EU insisted that it had "fully complied" with the dispute ruling against its sugar regime, within the 22 May deadline that an arbitrator had set for doing so. Brussels points to its formal…
- 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 : 8-14 June 8 June, Washington DC, US: THE WORLD BANK IN TRADE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE NEW TRADE AGENDA. Organised by the Washington International Trade Association.…
- Resources
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Resources
THE COFFEE PARADOX: GLOBAL MARKETS, COMMODITY TRADE AND THE ELUSIVE PROMISE OF DEVELOPMENT. By Benoit Daviron and Stefano Ponte. Can developing countries trade their way out of poverty? International trade has grown dramatically in the last two decades, and trade is an important source of revenue in developing countries. Yet, many low-income countries are still…