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WTO Agrees On Chairs, Ready To Begin Substantive Negotiations
On 15 February, WTO Members re-convened their deferred General Council session (from 13 February) to agree on Chairs for both new negotiating groups and regular bodies of the WTO. The decision, based on many weeks of informal consultations by former General Council Chair Stuart Harbinson, paves the way for Members to begin scheduling the negotiations…
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WTO Development Committee Tweaks Technical Assistance Plan
The second meeting of 2002 of the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) convened on 14 February. This 38th Session of the CTD had a varied agenda looking primarily at elections for CTD and LDC Chairs and further work on the annual technical assistance plan. With no consensus prevailing on the slate of Chair candidates presented…
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New Proposed EU WSSD Strategy Heavy On Globalisation
On 13 February, EU Development Commissioner Poul Nielson presented a long awaited Communication prepared by the European Commission on the EU’s external sustainable development (SD) strategy designed — amongst other things — to establish policy components for a "Global Deal" at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Unlike previous SD-related communications…
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Agriculture: WTO Members Split On 'Development Box' And S&D
On 4-6 February, WTO Members met for the last scheduled Special Session in the current Phase II of the ongoing agriculture negotiations to discuss mainly development-related issues, including the establishment of a Development Box, special and differential treatment (S&D) for developing countries, single commodity producers, and small island…
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WSSD Prep Meeting Highlights Importance Of Equitable Trading System
Delegates at the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom II) for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) on 28 January - 8 February in New York moved a significant step closer to developing a programme of action for WSSD by adopting the Chair’s Paper which will form the basis for discussions at PrepCom…
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News From The Regions: Africa
New African development initiative garners high-level buy-in The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), adopted by African heads of state in Nigeria in October 2001, received high-level support last week from WTO Director-General Mike Moore and key Western leaders, including French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Previously, Canadian Prime Minister…
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On The Move
MOHAMED IBN CHAMBAS Mohamed Ibn Chambas was chosen as the new executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by the heads of state of the 15 members of the group. Chambas, a Ghanaian negotiator and politician, will succeed Guinea’s Lansan Kouvate, who left the post…
- In Brief
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In Brief
SPECIES-RICH COUNTRIES BAND TOGETHER TO FIGHT BIOPIRACY Twelve of the world’s most ecologically diverse nations signed an agreement in Cancun, Mexico, on 18 February to protect against biopiracy and advocate rules protecting their people’s rights to genetic resources found on their territory. The alliance, formally called the Group of…
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In Brief
UNCTAD ANNOUNCES CAPACITY BUILDING FOR TRADE NEGOTIATORS The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) last week announced a new "demand-driven" and "tailor-made" capacity building and technical assistance programme to increase developing countries’ capacity to effectively participate in post-Doha trade negotiations. The programme - - presented by UNCTAD’s Secretary-General…
- WTO in Brief
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WTO In Brief
MOORE ADVOCATES NEGOTIATIONS ON INVESTMENT, OTHER SINGAPORE ISSUES In an opinion piece published in the 17 February edition of the Financial Times, WTO Director-General Mike Moore pushed for the establishment of "clear, transparent and predictable global rules for investment." Moore qualified his comments by indicating that there was a…
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WTO In Brief
CHAIRS FOR DOHA NEGOTIATIONS ON AGENDA FOR 13 FEBRUARY Among other issues to be addressed at the 13 February meeting of the WTO General Council (GC), Members are expected to discuss — and possibly agree on — Chairpersons to head up not only the regular committees of the WTO…
- Events
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Events
EVENTS For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. Coming Up This Week: 19-26 February 18-19 February, Nuremberg, Germany: INTERNATIONAL HARMONISATION AND EQUIVALENCE IN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE. The conference is jointly organised by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, FAO…
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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: 12-19 February 1 February-30 June, Online Electronic Discussion: LINKING POVERTY REDUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: POLICY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES. The e-discussion solicits comments…
- 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 Matteo Rizzolli, mrizzolli@ictsd.ch). FOCUS ON AFRICA. By Gero Erdmann, Gerhard Hauck,…
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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 Matteo Rizzolli, mrizzolli@ictsd.ch). THE NORTH AMERICAN MOSAIC: A STATE OF THE…