-
Agriculture: Members Discuss Environment, Food Aid And Preferences
As announced in last week’s edition of BRIDGES Weekly, Members met in the WTO Committee on Agriculture (CoA) last week for the year’s final ‘agriculture week’. Inter alia, Members addressed farm support for agriculture that serves environmental purposes; food aid; and preferential market access for agricultural goods from developing countries. Background: WTO Members have been…
-
Services Week: Members Rehash Old Stances
With new communications tabled on so-called ‘horizontal issues’, Members on 6 December concluded the year’s final ’services week’ (see BRIDGES Weekly, 4 December 2001), which most of them characterised as ‘repetitive’ with little new developments on the sectoral front. Substantively, discussions focused on assessment, autonomous liberalisation and the organisation…
-
WTO To Establish New Technical Assistance Trust Fund
At an 11 December meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration, Members reached near-agreement on the establishment of a Trust Fund of at least 15 million Swiss Francs (CHF) - approximately 9.1 million US dollars. This proposed amount would serve for the implementation of next year’s commitments on technical assistance as mandated…
-
New GSP Adopted by European Union
On 10 December, European Union foreign ministers adopted a redefinition of their preferential tariff scheme, known as the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), to facilitate entry of imports from developing countries while at the same time strengthening incentives for compliance with core labour and environment standards. Touted as "the…
-
US House Narrowly Passes Fast Track Bill
By a margin of just one vote (215-214), the US House of Representatives on 6 December passed the Bush Administration’s trade promotion authority (TPA) bill — formerly known as ‘fast-track’ — which would allow the US President to negotiate trade agreements that Congress can only accept or reject, but not amend. Conservation and labour groups…
-
New ICTSD internet portal on intellectual property rights
Note To Subscribers Weekly publication schedule In order to include coverage of the WTO’s 19-20 December meeting of the General Council, BRIDGES Weekly’s final edition for 2001 (Vol. 5 No. 43) will be sent on Thursday 20 December rather than on Tuesday 18 December. The first issue of 2002 will be published on 15 January. ICTSD has launched…
- In Brief
-
European Comission Calls For 'Dramatic Quota Cuts' On Fishing
Following an alarming depletion of fishery stocks in EU waters, the European Commission on 4 December issued a proposal which would reduce the volume of fish caught by 14 percent next year. "If we want to avoid the complete extinction of some fish stocks, which would spell the end for our fishermen, decisive action is…
- WTO in Brief
-
China Accession Completed, Taiwan To Join In New Year
After 15 years of difficult negotiations, China on 11 December formally became the 143rd Member of the WTO. To comply with its WTO obligations, China will need to weaken its control on trade and markets in areas such as foreign investment and corporate privatisation. China’s reformers are anticipating reduced operating costs, less red tape and…
- Events
-
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 10-13 December, New York, US: UNITAR/WTO WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS. Jointly organised by the UN Institute for Training and Research and the WTO as part of their International Trade Series, the workshop…
- Resources
-
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). EATING OIL: FOOD SUPPLY IN A CHANGING CLIMATE.…