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G8+G5 Call for Doha Conclusion in 2010
Heads of state from 13 major world economies vowed last week “to seek an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the Doha Development Round in 2010,” just as trade officials at WTO headquarters in Geneva prepared to ramp up their negotiations before the organisation’s annual summer break. But such high-level promises have been made before. The recent…
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Climate Talks in US Senate Expose Divide among Democrats
The US Senate is grappling with political pressure from home and abroad as it moves forward on a climate bill that was passed by the House of Representatives in June. Carbon border tariffs have emerged as a flashpoint issue in the discussions, especially among Democrats. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 - known…
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Conference Signals Growing WIPO Engagement on Public Policy Issues
A high-profile conference hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization held in Geneva this week reflected WIPO’s growing willingness to engage on public policy issues such as climate change, public health, biodiversity and food security. Speakers included a number of heads of UN agencies and multilateral organisations - such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the…
- In Brief
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G8 Pledges US $20 Billion for Food Security
G8 leaders pledged US $20 billion in food security aid during its annual summit, held 8-10 July in L’Aquila, Italy. The funds are meant to help farmers in developing countries boost agricultural production in order to curb hunger and stabilise world food prices. The G8 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United…
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EU, South Korea Conclude FTA Talks
Officials from South Korea and the European Union said on Monday that they had concluded free trade talks and that they expect to finalise the deal before the end of 2009. The pact - which analysts say could be worth up to US$ 100 billion - would be Seoul’s largest bilateral trade agreement to date…
- WTO in Brief
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Lamy Presents Protectionism Report, Warns against ‘Excessive Optimism’
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy officially presented a report on Members’ new trade-restricting measures at a meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body on Monday. Lamy said that the report, which is the third in a series of such updates, “presents a mixed picture” of new trade policy developments. On one hand, there has been ‘further slippage’…
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Russia to Resume Unilateral WTO Bid
In a second about-face in fewer than five weeks, Russia indicated on Thursday that it intends resume its bid to join the WTO as a single member state. Moscow appeared ready to drop the 16-year-long effort last month, when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a surprise announcement that the country would only seek WTO…
- Events
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Events
16-17 July, Paris, France. WORKSHOP ON TRADEMARKS AND TRADEMARK DATA. This workshop is co-organised by INNO-tec and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with the support of the Strike network. The goal of this workshop is to present and discuss current work and analyses conducted on trademarks from various perspectives, so as to…
- Resources
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Resources
WTO TARIFF DOWNLOAD FACILITY. The World Trade Organization, July 2009. This new website, launched by the WTO, provides comprehensive information on customs duties. Users can now search for Members’ customs duty rates, as actually charged as well as legally bound maximums, and in many cases imports, down to a high level of detail. Users can…