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Agriculture Negotiators Ask For More Time, Extending Push For Modalities Deal
The release of a key negotiating text in the Doha Round farm trade talks has been postponed until mid-May, as delegates have asked for more time to try to resolve differences on certain specific issues in the troubled negotiations. The delay - the text was initially expected by the end of April - calls into question…
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Global Push To Tackle Food Crisis
In an attempt to address the global crisis over high food prices, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set up a special task force drawing on 27 international agencies, including UN bodies as well as the WTO and World Bank. Sharp hikes in the price of a wide range of staple foods have sparked unrest…
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Calls For Exempting Small-Scale Fishing From Subsidy Rules Divide WTO Members
WTO Members last week disagreed on the extent to which future multilateral rules on fisheries subsidies should include exceptions for payments to the small-scale fishing sector, as Canada and some other developed countries sought controversial exemptions for their own industry. Marine conservation groups said that the exceptions these countries were seeking would undermine the…
- WTO in Brief
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Japan, Switzerland Propose Stronger WTO Curbs On Use Of Food Export Restrictions
With developing countries around the world placing curbs on agricultural exports in an attempt to deal with skyrocketing food prices, Japan and Switzerland this week called for tightening WTO rules on the use of export restrictions on foodstuffs. In an informal paper dated 30 April, Japan and Switzerland proposed constraining countries’ ability to restrict…
- Events
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Events
Coming Up: 1- 7 May 5-7 May, Athens, Greece. THE ATHENS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY SECURITY. This summit will bring together senior government officials, international civil servants, corporate leaders, financiers, academic and market analysts from all swaths of the energy and environmental communities, in order to forge a common understanding of the challenges…
- Resources
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Resources
THE MULTILATERAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT CONTEXT FOR BIOFUELS: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES. By Sophia Murphy. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and International Institute for Environment and Development, April 2008. This paper looks at the multilateral trade and investment context for biofuels. Biofuels are a relatively new arrival in the world of global trade, though not…