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WIPO Development Agenda Meeting Breaks Down Over Chair's Text
Members of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) have failed to agree on how to proceed with embedding a ‘Development Agenda’ in the functioning of the global intellectual property body. A draft set of recommendations, prepared by the chair of the WIPO committee mandated with carrying the process forward, upset several developing countries during last…
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EPAs: With Eighteen Months To Go, Uncertainty Remains
The EU and the group of African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) ministers disagreed sharply over a framework for reviewing their economic partnership agreement negotiations at a joint ministerial meeting in Brussels on 28 June. The Cotonou Agreement — which currently allows most ACP exports to enter the EU market duty free — is set to expire…
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Members Reach Consensus In Principle On RTA Transparency Mechanism
Although they remain divided on the most central issues in the Doha Round negotiations, WTO Members were able to reach consensus last week on a set of rules for looking at each others’ bilateral and regional trade agreements (RTAs). One trade diplomat said that the transparency procedures would help Members establish a "clearer picture" of…