-
US Requests WTO Consultations With EU On Biotech Moratorium
The US on 13 May officially requested consultations with the EU over its continued de facto moratorium on the approval of genetically modified organisms (GMO). Canada has also filed a request while Argentina and Egypt have expressed their intention to follow suit. The countries allege that the moratorium poses an unjustified trade barrier in violation…
-
Reviving the S&D Process: GC Chair Circulates Proposals
The next step in looking at how to revive the mandated review of special and differential treatment (S&D) provisions at the WTO’s Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) was taken on 5 May, when General Council (GC) Chair Perez del Castillo (Uruguay) circulated a categorised list of agreement-specific proposals. As previously reported (see BRIDGES Weekly,…
-
TNC: Back to the Grind in Geneva
The WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) met in Geneva on 9 May to take stock of progress in the Doha Round negotiations. Despite the up- beat tone and positive political signals sent by key trade ministers at an OECD meeting a week earlier (see BRIDGES Weekly, 7 May 2003), the negotiators in Geneva, tasked with…
-
WTO, IMF, World Bank Heads Meet To Discuss Coherence
The heads of the WTO and the Bretton Woods Institutions — the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) — addressed WTO Members at a first-of-its-kind meeting on 13 May. At the meeting of the WTO General Council (GC) on Coherence, Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director- General of the WTO, Horst Kohler, Managing Director of the IMF…
-
Rules: New EU Proposal On Fisheries Subsidies
The Negotiating Group on Rules met from 5-7 May to consider a number of submissions made by Members related to anti-dumping, countervailing measures and subsidies. Members also briefly considered regional trade agreements (RTAs). New EU proposal on fisheries subsidies The EU presented its proposal on fisheries subsidies (TN/RL/W/82, available at http://docsonline.wto.org), stressing it was based…
-
European Commission Releases Draft Chemicals Legislation
The European Commission released its long-awaited proposal for the EU’s new chemical legislation on 7 May for an eight-week public consultation process. European industry groups have expressed serious concerns about the legislation’s impact on the competitiveness of the European chemical industry while US businesses and government officials have strongly…
- In Brief
-
In Brief
US, SINGAPORE SIGN FTA; US-CHILE AGREEMENT BY YEAR-END The US and Singapore singed a comprehensive bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) on 6 May. While the US already has FTAs in place with Mexico, Canada, Israel and Jordan, the treaty is the first between the US and an Asian country. At the signing ceremony, US President Bush said…
- WTO in Brief
-
Softwood Lumber Panel To Be Established
WTO GRANTS EU RETALIATORY POWER IN FSC CASE On 7 May the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) authorised the EU to increase customs duties as a further step towards retaliatory sanctions against the US in the Foreign Sales Corporations (FSC) case. The EU had challenged the tax benefits through the FSC for major US exporting companies…
- Events
-
Events
EVENTS For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch. Coming Up: 15 - 21 May 12-16 May, Rome, Italy: 29TH FAO COMMITTEE MEETING ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY. The FAO Committee on…
- Resources
-
Resources
RANKING THE RICH. Foreign Policy/Center for Global Development (May 2003). Political leaders in the world’s wealthy nations routinely pledge to help end world poverty. But what are the richest governments really doing to assist the global poor? In a new ranking, Foreign Policy and the Center for Global Development have created the first annual Commitment…