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Revised Ag Text Delayed As Chair Sees Glimmer Of Progress
The chair of the troubled WTO agriculture talks will postpone issuing a new draft negotiating text initially expected in mid-November until towards the end of the month, trade sources report. The move was prompted by modest signs of movement in the discussions. Ambassador Crawford Falconer (New Zealand) had earlier warned Members that he would put a…
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WHO Committee On Drug Innovation And Prices Underway In Geneva
Government officials and civil society representatives are meeting in Geneva this week to discuss ways to spark the development of affordable treatments for medical conditions that disproportionately affect people in poor countries. The World Health Organization’s Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG) is charged with developing…
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Brazil Peru Discuss New Ideas On Environmental Goods Liberalisation
Negotiations on expedited liberalisation for environmental goods and services were front and centre at last week’s meeting of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment-special session (CTE-SS). The US, the EU, and others rebuffed Brazil’s recent calls to classify biofuels as an environmental good qualifying for deep tariff cuts (see…
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More Discord In Wto Industrial Goods Negotiations
Some negotiators at the WTO are wondering whether any common ground exists for Members to strike a Doha Round agreement on cutting industrial tariffs, following more discussions that served to underline differences rather than point the way to compromise. The principal fault line in the negotiations remains unaltered: the US…
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Agriculture Chair Circulates New 'Working Documents' On Export Competition
The chair of the Doha Round farm trade negotiations on 7 November released a set of potential changes to WTO rules aimed at preventing countries from pursuing policies that effectively subsidise the export of agricultural products. The three ‘working documents’ updated the terms of the draft deal Ambassador Crawford Falconer (New Zealand) circulated to Members in…
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Preparations underway for new services text
PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY FOR NEW SERVICES TEXT With the chairs of the Doha Round negotiating committees putting together draft deals to present to Members sometime in the next month, WTO Members are telling the mediator of the services talks what they would like to see in the text he is preparing…
- In Brief
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In Brief
MALAYSIA, PAKISTAN SECURE FTA Malaysia and Pakistan finalised a free trade agreement (FTA) on 5 November, according to Pakistani news sources. Pending formal approval, it will enter into force on 1 January 2008. The FTA had been in the works for about three years. One of the biggest sticking points has been the depth of Pakistan’s tariff…
- WTO in Brief
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WTO In Brief
EU, SWITZERLAND DISTANT FROM OTHER MEMBERS IN WTO-MEA TALKS Differences persist among WTO Members on the content of a potential text that could serve as the basis for future negotiations on the relationship between WTO rules and specific trade obligations (STOs) set out in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Discussions on 2 November in the Committee for Trade…
- Events
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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. Coming Up: 8-14 November 11-15 November, Rome, Italy. TWENTIETH WORLD ENERGY CONGRESS. The main topic of the congress is "The Energy Future in an Interdependent World,"…
- Resources
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Resources
DO BILATERAL AND REGIONAL APPROACHES FOR REDUCING TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE CONVERGE TOWARDS THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM ? Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 18 October 2007. This paper is a Trade Policy Working Paper, which examines provisions regarding technical barriers to trade in selected bilateral and regional trade agreements. The paper then reviews…