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Deadlock on Trade Policy in Washington Hurts Developing Country Exporters
Roses from Colombia, tuna from Ecuador, and tyres from Indonesia. These are just some of the products that have become more expensive for US consumers in recent months, as two trade preference schemes were allowed to lapse amidst partisan bickering over trade policy in Washington. A trade preference scheme for Andean countries, benefiting mainly Colombia and…
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WTO Doha Round: Indispensable or Irrelevant?
The Doha Round negotiations at the WTO: indispensable, or irrelevant? According to former EU trade commissioner Leon Brittan, the fate of the struggling multilateral trade talks is no less than the canary in the coalmine signalling whether the world’s governments might prove able to cooperate on more complex geopolitical and environmental challenges. Speaking at WTO headquarters in…
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Clean Energy Issue Rattles Canada-EU FTA Discussions
Transatlantic friction over Canada’s vast bitumen oil deposits came to a head last week, after secret EU documents appeared to suggest that Ottawa had threatened to pull the plug on a prospective bilateral trade pact if Europe insisted on introducing an environmental clause for oil imports. The documents, which came to light through access-to-information requests, suggest…
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WTO, WIPO and WHO Examine Role of Patent Information in Access to Medicines
The information in patent documents and applications can play an important role in improving access to medicines, said experts at a symposium on “Access to Medicines, Patent Information and Freedom to Operate” in Geneva last month. Procurement agencies, research institutions, industry and other stakeholders need to know specifics about whether a product is patented in order…
- In Brief
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White House Report: WTO Doha Accord Key to Opening Markets in Brazil, India
Opening up the markets of Brazil, India and other emerging economies through an agreement in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations would play a crucial part in meeting Washington’s goal of doubling US exports by 2014, the White House said last Wednesday in its annual economic report. The report - not to be confused with the…
- WTO in Brief
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China Launches WTO Dispute Against US Shrimp Duties
The US finds its controversial practice of ‘zeroing’ in the line of fire again, as China on Monday initiated WTO dispute proceedings over Washington’s anti-dumping duties on Chinese shrimp. Despite having lost several WTO cases on the issue, most recently against Brazil for duties on orange juice, Washington responded coldly to China’s challenge. “The decision now by…
- Events
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Events
Coming soon 7 March, Paris. WHAT SOLUTION FOR THE JAPANESE ECONOMY? This seminar, hosted by the Institut français des relations international (Ifri), is organised around Richard Collasse, CEO of Chanel K.K. in Japan and chaired by Françoise Nicolas, Director at the Center for Asian Studies, Ifri. Collasse, a knowledgeable expert on Japan, will give his…
- Resources
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Resources
IPC POLICY FOCUS: BIOFUEL AND FOOD SECURITY: TIME TO CONSIDER SAFETY VALVES? By Brian Wright. International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council, February 2011. The rapid increase of biofuel production from agricultural feedstock has driven grain prices higher and is keeping aggregate cereal stocks low, making the market unusually vulnerable to supply and demand shocks.…