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North-South Coalition Sets Out 'Draft Modalities' on TRIPs
An unprecedented coalition of developed and developing countries has crafted a set of ‘draft modalities’ on three controversial intellectual property issues: the disclosure of the source of genetic information in patent applications, the extension of geographical indications (GIs) to all goods, and the establishment of a multilateral register for GIs for wines and spirits. The text,…
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Chair Says NAMA Deal is 'Doable', Though Divisions Remain
bridgesweekly12-26Trade ministers meeting in Geneva next week will still have to resolve wide differences if they are to strike a framework deal on cutting manufacturing tariffs, after a new draft compromise text by the chair of the WTO negotiating committee left potential provisions on some central issues largely unchanged from an earlier version. The chair, Canadian…
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WIPO Committee Reviews Recommendations on Development Agenda
The World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) made progress last week in its negotiations on how to implement a set of 45 recommendations that are meant to make WIPO more development friendly. The CDIP, which is chaired by Ambassador Trevor Clarke (Barbados), will forward its recommended implementation activities to the…
- WTO in Brief
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Tropical Products and Preference Erosion: Still No Deal
A long-running three-way fight over the treatment of bananas could prevent a successful conclusion of the Doha round, informed sources say. Ongoing talks reportedly continued this week between the EU and Latin American exporters on the ‘tropical products’ that are slated for enhanced liberalisation, as well as between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)…
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Rules Chair Outlines Strategy for Future Negotiations
The chair of the WTO’s Negotiating Group on Rules issued a communiqué last week outlining how the rules talks could proceed in the event that modalities on agricultural and industrial goods trade are established at next week’s mini-ministerial conference. The rules negotiations cover anti-dumping, horizontal subsidies and fisheries subsidies. In the message, which was sent to…
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Senior Officials Prepare for Services ‘Signalling Conference’
Senior officials from about 25 WTO Member states met on 14 July to set the stage for services talks next week. Discussions at the meeting, which was chaired by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, mainly concerned procedural issues in preparation for the ’signalling conference’ that has been scheduled for 24 July. At that conference, ministers from…
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Anti-Dumping Cases Dropped in Second Half of 2007, WTO Reports
The Secretariat of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) reported last week that there was a drop in the number of anti-dumping investigations initiated during the final six months of 2007, as compared with the same period in 2006. Altogether the cases initiated on dumping - the practice of selling goods more cheaply overseas than in the…
- Events
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Vacancy
The Bretton Woods Project, which works with NGOs and activists worldwide to monitor and challenge the World Bank and IMF, is seeking a new Policy Officer. This position is an exciting opportunity to research, write and do advocacy work on a number of environment and development policy issues; to facilitate network strengthening with emphasis on…
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Events
Coming up 17-23 July 17 July, London, UK. ENERGY SECURITY, THE FOOD CRISIS AND THE NIGER DELTA. Nigeria is undergoing fundamental change as it transforms from a developing country to an emerging economic power. At the same time, the country faces significant challenges in establishing good governance, economic diversification, and growth that benefits its entire people.…
- Resources
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Resources
ANOTHER INCONVENIENT TRUTH: HOW BIOFUEL POLICIES ARE DEEPENING POVERTY AND ACCELERATING CLIMATE CHANGE. Oxfam, June 2008. In this report, Oxfam calculates that rich country biofuel policies have dragged more than 30 million people into poverty, according to evidence that biofuels have already contributed up to 30 percent to the global rise in food prices. To…