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Lamy Calls for Text-Based Talks, Delegates Express Frustration
Delegates need to move to text-based negotiations if they want to spur progress toward a global trade deal, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy stressed to a meeting of WTO officials on Friday. The mood among delegates was grim, with many complaining of back-sliding and a lack of transparency in the negotiating process, but Lamy remained optimistic. “The…
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US ‘Committed’ to Doha Deal: EU Trade Commissioner
The US is determined to work towards a successful conclusion of the WTO’s Doha Round of trade talks, EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said during a trip to Washington earlier this week. “I think first of all this administration is committed to open trade. It is committed to trying to resolve the Doha round,” Ashton said…
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Delhi Conference Sees Some Progress toward Tech Package in a Climate Deal
Climate change technology plays an essential role in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and in addressing the effects of climate change. Increasing developing countries’ access to that technology has been at the heart of global climate change negotiations. However discussions on technology transfer, as on other key issues such as mitigation commitments and finance, have…
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GE Calls for Stand-Alone Deal on Environmental Goods and Services
General Electric, the iconic US-based multinational technology and services conglomerate, is calling for governments to cut tariffs and other barriers to trade in environmental goods and services in order to help combat climate change. WTO members should strike an ‘environmental goods and services agreement’ (EGSA) without waiting for a broader deal in the long-running Doha Round…
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Experts Debate China’s Role in Global Trade, Economic Governance
China - the world’s fastest-growing major economy - has recently emerged as a major player in global economic governance, and not without some controversy. The country’s newly prominent role on the world stage was the topic of much discussion and debate among a group of experts who gathered for a conference in Geneva earlier this week. Discussions…
- In Brief
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Spat over Rice Tariffs Stalls Trade Talks at ASEAN Summit
A group of Asian heads of state met in the Thai beach resort Hua Hin last week in an attempt to make progress toward a free trade deal that would lower tariffs across the ten-country ASEAN region. But an ongoing spat over rice tariffs between Thailand and the Philippines threatens to derail the deal to…
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NGOs Gain Access to Controversial Investment Dispute
A coalition of non-governmental organisations will be granted access to information about a controversial arbitration between a group of European investors and the government of South Africa, in a development that dents the custom of secrecy in international investment disputes. The arbitration*playing out under the auspices of the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment…
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EU, Canada Hold First Round of Trade Talks
Officials from Canada and the European Union held their first official round of free trade talks last week, kicking off a five-round process that the parties say should take about two years to complete. The most controversial issues brought to the table were a decrease in agricultural subsidies for the EU, and an easing of…
- Events
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Events
29 October, Geneva, Switzerland. SIXIEME SYMPOSIUM DE LA HAUTE ECOLE DE GESTION DE GENEVE. La crise économique actuelle démontre, si cela était encore nécessaire, que le succès d’une organisation n’est pas lié uniquement à sa pure performance financière, mais aussi à sa capacité de créer de la valeur ajoutée durable et de s’intégrer dans le…
- Resources
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Resources
HOW WOULD A TRADE DEAL ON SUGAR AFFECT EXPORTING AND IMPORTING COUNTRIES? By Amani Elobeid, The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, October 2009. This study examines how exporting and importing countries could be affected by a trade deal on sugar along the lines of that under discussion in the WTO’s Doha Round, as…