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WTO Members Looking To Davos For Guidance On How To Proceed
Trade negotiators are turning their eyes to Davos, where ministers from around 30 of the WTO’s most influential Member countries will meet later this week to discuss the struggling Doha Round negotiations. Delegates appear uncertain about what to expect from the gathering, which will take place on 27 January during the World Economic Forum summit there.…
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Some Members Call For Greater Focus On Services, As Talks Resume In Geneva
Services talks kicked off the new year on 22 January with a two-week ‘cluster’ of meetings. As usual, the subsidiary bodies of the Council for Trade in Services will meet during the first week (22-26 January); the second (29 January - 2 February) will see request-offer negotiations between Members. In line with the ’soft’ resumption…
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Governments Remain Divided On WIPO Broadcast Treaty
The future of a potential global treaty expanding the rights of broadcasters remains unclear, after a World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) committee failed last week to pave the way for formal negotiations on finalising an accord at the end of this year. Sources report that government negotiators were unable…
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US FTA Negotiations With Korea, Malaysia Struggling
US negotiators failed to make substantial progress in recent bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) talks with their counterparts from South Korea and Malaysia. This has called into question whether Washington can reach an accord with either country in time for a key deadline at the beginning of April. "There are…
- In Brief
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In Brief
EU, CHINA BEGIN PARTNERSHIP AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT TALKS The EU and China officially started talks on a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), during EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner’s 16-18 January visit to Beijing. The negotiations are in keeping with the European Commission’s new trade policy objectives, unveiled last October (see BRIDGES Weekly, 11…
- WTO in Brief
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WTO In Brief
MORE WTO MEMBERS LINE UP TO CHALLENGE US CORN SUBSIDIES Governments including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the EU, Guatemala, Thailand and Uruguay have asked to join Canada’s WTO complaint against several US corn and other agricultural subsidy programmes. In requesting consultations with Washington - the first stage in WTO dispute settlement - Ottawa alleged that the US’…
- 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 at: http://www.ictsd.org/cal/index.htm. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch. Upcoming : 25-31 January 30-31 January, Geneva, Switzerland: THE THIRD GLOBAL CONGRESS ON COMBATING COUNTERFEITING AND PIRACY. The World Intellectual Property Organization,…
- Resources
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Resources
TRADING AWAY OUR OCEANS: WHY TRADE LIBERALIZATION OF FISHERIES MUST BE ABANDONED. By Marc Allain. Greenpeace, 18 January 2007. This paper shows the negative effects of trade liberalisation on fish and fishery products, in an effort to discourage further liberalisation. Drawing from OECD, EU, and UNEP publications, the paper argues that further liberalisation will increase…
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Resources
WHO BENEFITS FROM GM CROPS?: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GLOBAL PERFORMANCE OF GM CROPS (1996-2006). Friends of the Earth International, January 2007.This report seeks to answer two questions: What benefits have genetically modified (GM) crops brought the world? And for whom? Presenting studies of GM crops in the United States, GM soybeans in South America,…