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Agriculture: G-20 Group Discusses Way Ahead; Colombia, Peru Leave Alliance
With close to a month having passed since the collapse of negotiations at the fifth WTO Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, from 10-14 September, the halls of the WTO remain quiet. No trade block has so far taken the leadership to get the talks back on track and the question of what Members, or constellations of…
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GATS: Business As Usual Despite Cancun Failure
Unlike in other WTO bodies — such as the Committee on Agriculture, where negotiations are currently suspended — Members have been meeting from 29 September to 6 October in sessions of the Council for Trade in Services (CTS) as well as its subsidiary bodies. Not much movement has,…
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DSB Update: GIS, Quarantine Laws And Lumber
The WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) met on 2 October to discuss various issues, including the US-Canadian dispute regarding countervailing duties on softwood lumber from Canada, the Australian quarantine regime for imports and the European Community’s protection of trademarks and geographical indications (GIs) for agricultural products and foodstuffs. Panel…
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FTAA: US-Brazil Standoff Dims Prospects For Miami Ministerial
The vice-ministers of the 34 countries of the Western hemisphere seeking to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) met for a Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 30 September to 3 October. Delegates arrived with different sets of priorities, and left without making much progress in bridging…
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ACP-EU Ministers Meet To Launch Phase II Of EPA Negotiations
On 2 October 2003, the Council of Ministers of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States met with the European Union (EU) Commissioners for Trade and Development in Brussels for the second ACP- EU Ministerial Meeting for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations. This meeting marked the beginning of the second phase of…
- In Brief
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CEMAC & ECOWAS Launch First ACP-EU Bilateral Deals
INDO-ASEAN FREE TRADE PACT BY 2011 In a spur to regional initiatives, India is set to sign a free trade pact with the six founding members of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) under the Framework Agreement on Economic Cooperation. The framework agreement was recent finalised by Indian and ASEAN officials in Jakarta…
- 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. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch. Coming Up: 9 - 15 October 8-9 October, Johannesburg, South Africa: FIFTH AFRICA DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CONFERENCE AND AFRICA SMME AWARDS. The aim…
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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. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch. Coming Up: 15 - 22 October 13-16 October, Yaoundé, Cameroon: AFRICA FOREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNANCE PROCESS (AFLEG). This ministerial conference will allow African…
- Resources
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Resources
ICTSD Resources TRADING IN KNOWLEDGE: DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES ON TRIPS, TRADE AND SUSTAINABILITY. Edited by Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, Christophe Bellmann and Graham Dutfield (2003). Trading in knowledge explains the many issues at stake in intellectual property rights negotiations and treaties — especially TRIPS and the ramifications for biotechnology, agriculture, traditional knowledge…