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WTO Negotiators Look To 2008, Though Doha Deal Prospects Remain Slim
Until recently, trade officials from many governments were warning that the Doha Round trade talks would die or go into indefinite hibernation without a breakthrough agreement on cutting tariffs and subsidies by the end of the year. The troubled WTO negotiations now look set to remain alive, if not quite kicking, into 2008, despite the…
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Draft Rules Text Would Ban Wide Range Of Fisheries Subsidies
A new potential basis for negotiating future WTO rules on subsidy spending would ban a wide range of government payments to the fisheries sector that conservationists blame for promoting the wide-scale depletion of marine fish stocks. The chair of the Doha Round negotiations on rules, Ambassador Guillermo Valles Games (Uruguay), circulated a draft consolidated text to…
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EU, US Call For Eliminating Trade Barriers To Climate-Friendly Goods And Services
Just prior to a United Nations climate change conference in Bali, the EU and US last week submitted a joint proposal at the WTO calling for trade liberalisation in climate-friendly goods and services. The proposal calls for the elimination of trade barriers facing goods and services directly related to mitigating climate change as part of the…
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Links Between Patent Rules And Access To Green Technology Come Under Scrutiny
On the eve of an international conference on climate change in Bali, the European Parliament has called for examining the impact of intellectual property protections on the spread of environmentally sound technologies, suggesting that WTO rules might be impeding their diffusion. Wider use of energy-saving technology would help curb greenhouse gas emissions. However, the extent to…
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Countries Step Up Demands On Gi Extension, Disclosure
Two groups of countries this week proposed text for clauses in a potential Doha Round framework deal that would aim to alter WTO intellectual property rules for patent applicants whose inventions involve biodiversity, and strengthen protections for foods linked to particular places. Both of the proposals, presented on 3 December during informal consultations with WTO Deputy…
- In Brief
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In Brief
FIJI, PAPUA NEW GUINEA BECOME FIRST PACIFIC COUNTRIES TO SIGN EPA WITH BRUSSELS Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) initialed ‘interim’ goods-only economic partnership agreements (EPA) with the EU on 29 November, the European Commission indicated last week. Fijian officials said that the accord secures unobstructed access to the EU market, except for rice and sugar, with…
- WTO in Brief
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WTO In Brief
WTO APPELLATE BODY AGREES WITH EU, REINFORCES RULING AGAINST BRAZIL TYRE IMPORT BAN The WTO’s highest court on 3 December confirmed an earlier ruling that Brazil’s import ban on used and retreaded tyres violated multilateral trade rules because it was applied in a discriminatory manner. Notably, the Appellate Body set a substantially higher bar for Brazil to…
- 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: 6-12 December 9-11 December, Berlin, Germany. FROM RED TAPE REDUCTION TO A BETTER REGULATION STRATEGY?. Organised by the International Regulatory Reform Conference…
- Resources
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Resources
COMPLIANCE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE COMMITMENTS: THE G8 RECORD, 1975-2007. By John Kirton and Jenilee Guebert. G8 Research Group, November 2007. The report assesses the compliance of G8 members with their climate change commitments, since the G7/8 started generating them in 1987 through to 2007. G8 compliance earns a respectable B. The report is available at…