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Ministerial Texts Make Their Way To Doha, But Great Disparities Remain
Ministerial Texts Make Their Way To Doha, But Great Disparities Remain The 31 October-1 November General Council session provided delegations an opportunity to offer comments on the 27 October draft Ministerial texts released by General Council Chairperson Stuart Harbinson (see BRIDGES Weekly, 30 October). Complaints from both developed and developing country Members, who felt these…
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FAO International Undertaking Finally Adopted
After seven years of difficult negotiations, the revised International Undertaking (IU) — now International Convention (IC) — on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) was finally adopted by the Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 3 November, making it the first binding international instrument dealing specifically with the conservation…
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EU Resists Biotech Discussion In SPS Committee
At the meeting of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) on 31 October to 1 November, the US and Canada strongly criticised Europe’s continued de facto moratorium on the approval of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in place since 1998. The EU reacted evasively to the criticism, arguing that the matter should instead…
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Canada - US Softwood Lumber Dispute Continues
Following US opposition, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) at its meeting on 5 November rejected Canada’s request to establish a WTO dispute settlement panel to examine US countervailing duties imposed in the context of the ongoing US-Canada softwood lumber dispute. If Canada persists in its request, however, a panel will be automatically established at the…
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US Textile Makers Attack Accelerated Trade Liberalisation
Responding to multilateral and bilateral initiatives involving the US aimed at speeding up the liberalisation of world textile trade, the US textiles industry, spearheaded by the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI), as well as several Republican members of the US Congress have criticised developing countries attempts at the WTO to speed up the expansion of…
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Last-Minute Arrangements For NGOs
At a briefing session for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on 31 October, the WTO Secretariat outlined arrangements for the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference. The NGO Centre will be five minutes walk from the main Conference rooms hosted at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha. Shuttles will regularly connect the area of the hotels with the conference site. In a…
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ICTSD Activities In Doha
ICTSD Activities In Doha As during the past three WTO Ministerial Conferences in Singapore, Geneva and Seattle (see http://www.ictsd.org/ministerial/index.htm), ICTSD will again aim to provide its audiences with tools for a better understanding of the issues at the crossroad between trade and sustainable development in the lead-up, duration, and aftermath of the WTO Ministerial. To this…
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Note To Subscribers
In deviation from our usual practice, daily negotiation updates will be sent to all BRIDGES Weekly subscribers during the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, on 9-13 November (see Civil Society Section below). Distribution will return to the weekly schedule after the Ministerial meeting. The Doha Agenda For The Weekend As reported verbally from some WTO…
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Civil Society Resources for the Ministerial
A NEW ROUND OF WTO TRADE NEGOTIATIONS: A TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION? Published by the North-South Institute, Canada, October 2001. Available at http://www.nsi-ins.ca/ensi/whats_new.html#events; or for further information contact: Chantal Blouin; email: cblouin@nsi-ins.ca; fax: (1- 613) 241-7435. EIGHT BROKEN PROMISES: WHY THE WTO ISN’T WORKING FOR THE WORLD’S POOR. Oxfam Briefing Paper…
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WTO Protests Mushrooming Around The Globe
Given the difficulties in voicing discontent with the possible launch of new global trade talks directly at the Ministerial Conference in Doha (Qatar), a broad coalition of NGOs is planning a series of street demonstrations and other events in several cities all around the world. No demos in Doha Although the Qatari government has not explicitly forbidden…
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Eurofish Officially Established
Andean Community Moves To Liberalise Trade In Services At a high-level meeting in Lima, Peru on 30 October, Foreign Trade and Integration Ministers of the five Andean countries Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela decided to make an important step towards a progressive liberalisation of trade in services by approving Decision 510 on the Adoption of…
- WTO in Brief
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Security Concerns For Doha Despite Reassurances By Bin Laden
According to reports by the WTO Secretariat, the Qatari and Pakistani secret services and the governments of the US, Pakistan and Qatar, Osama bin Laden, who is being held responsible for the recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in the US, has guaranteed that no attacks will occur during the WTO Ministerial Conference…
- Events
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Events
For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar at: http://www.ictsd.org/cal/index.htm. Coming Up This Week 29 October - 9 November, Marrakesh, Morocco: SEVENTH CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE. For further information, contact:…
- Resources
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Resources
If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy for review by the BRIDGES staff to Hugo Cameron, hcameron@ictsd.ch. Submissions of publications to ICTSD’s documentation centre would also be welcome (contact Marc Galvin, mgalvin@ictsd.ch). BRIDGES MONTHLY REVIEW. Published by ICTSD, Year 5,…