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EU, Central America Trade Talks Tripped Up by Regional Politics
Free trade talks between Central America and the European Union could resume after a presidential election is held in Honduras on 23 November, a delegation of European lawmakers said last week during a visit to Costa Rica. Brussels expects to pick up the process as soon as possible, the delegates said, taking into account the…
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TRIPS Council Debates Public Health, ‘Non-Violation’ Complaints
WTO delegates tackled several contentious intellectual property issues - including access to medicines, ‘non-violation complaints’ and biodiversity - at a two-day session last week. The formal meeting of the council of the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Council), which was held on 27 and 28 October, resulted in consensus on…
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WTO Rules Group Builds Understanding, but Gaps Remain
The WTO’s Negotiating Group on Rules held informal open-ended talks from Monday to Friday of last week. Under the direction of the chair, Ambassador Guillermo Valles Galmés of Uruguay, delegates delved into technical questions on anti-dumping, countervailing duties, and fisheries disciplines, in many cases tackling issues on which they have long been divided. Two bracketed issues…
- Special Section
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Copenhagen Countdown: Agriculture and Climate Change
Each week leading up the UNFCCC’s 15th Conference of the Parties, Bridges Weekly will be providing readers with background and analysis on key issues facing negotiators as they prepare for December’s meeting in Copenhagen. This week’s article highlights the role of agriculture in the climate change puzzle. Current negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on…
- In Brief
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US, China Strike Deals on Trade, but Sparring Continues
Senior-level officials from China and the US met for two days in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou to try to find common ground on a number of trade issues last week, even as new disputes between the two countries continued to crop up outside the conference hall. The officials were hoping to smooth over their…
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Update from Barcelona: Climate Talks Face Uphill Battle to Copenhagen
African delegates walked out of meetings during United Nations climate change talks in Barcelona, Spain this week, claiming that developed countries were not making solid commitments to cut their emissions of climate-warming gases. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, a group of Republican lawmakers boycotted debates in the US Senate’s Environment and Public Works…
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US Senate Considers Two Key Trade Appointments
The United States Senate Finance Committee convened on Wednesday to consider the nominations of Michael Punke for the position of ambassador to the WTO, and Islam Siddiqui, who has been nominated to serve as Washington’s chief agriculture negotiator. The outcome of the hearing, which had yet to end as Bridges Weekly went to press, will likely…
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EU Issues New Report on IPR Enforcement outside Europe
Increased cooperation between the European Union and the developing world is strengthening intellectual property enforcement in poorer countries, according to a new report from the European Commission. While the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) still faces many challenges in these countries, there have been considerable improvements in enforcement, the report found. Overall, though,…
- WTO in Brief
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EU, US, Mexico Request WTO Panel on Chinese Export Restrictions
The EU, the US, and Mexico have requested the creation of a WTO panel to rule on the legality of a range of Chinese export restrictions on several raw materials used in manufacturing. The restrictions cover inputs for the steel, chemical, and aluminium industries, including yellow phosphorous, bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon metal, silicon carbide…
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Canada Launches WTO Complaint over EU Seal Ban
Canada has formally requested WTO consultations with the EU over Brussels’ controversial ban on imports of seal products, which is scheduled come into force in August 2010. Stockwell Day, Canada’s Trade Minister, announced the move in a 2 November statement following the publication of the seal ban in the Official Journal of the European Union…
- Events
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Events
4-5 November, Paris, France. OECD GLOBAL FORUM ON ENVIRONMENT ON ECO-INNOVATION. Most OECD countries consider eco-innovation to be an important part of the response to contemporary challenges, including climate change and energy security. In addition, many countries think that eco-innovation could be a source of competitive advantages in the fast-growing environmental goods and services sector.…
- Resources
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Resources
THE DOHA ROUND: “DEATH-DEFYING AGENDA” OR “DON’T DO IT AGAIN?” By Stuart Harbinson. European Centre for International Political Economy, 2009. Almost eight years after the launch of the Doha Round, the WTO negotiations remain mired in a swamp of detail, with many participants unwilling or unable to make the hard decisions which would bring the…