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WTO S&D Talks Focus On Process In ‘Positive’ Session
The Committee on Trade and Development special (negotiating) session (CTD-SS) — mandated to review all special and differential treatment (S&D) provisions for developing countries — met on 28 October in an atmosphere described by a trade delegate as "positive and constructive". The group has missed three deadlines in recent years and has been characterised by…
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LDCs Discuss Upcoming Textile And Clothing Transitions
The WTO Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries met on 29 October and discussed what one delegate described as "urgent problems" relating to the phase-out of textile and clothing quotas at the end of this year. The meeting focused on a document submitted by Tanzania on behalf of the least developed countries (LDCs) entitled "Market Access for…
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SPS Committee Finalises Transparency Procedure
Following a compromise reached by Canada and Malaysia, the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measure (SPS), meeting from 27-28 November, adopted a procedure for transparency in special and differential treatment (S&D) for developing countries. The procedure was based on a Canadian proposal adopted in principle in April 2003 (see BRIDGES Weekly, 10 April 2003).…
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ACP And EU Trade Ministers Take Stock Of EPA Negotiations
Trade ministers from the African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) and the EU met in Brussels from 25-27 October to discuss issues related to their ongoing Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations (see BRIDGES Weekly, 22 April 2004). ACP trade ministers and officials also met separately in a ministerial trade meeting and a technical follow-up meeting…
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African Experts Tackle Trade-Poverty Linkage
Academics, government officials and civil society groups met from 25-26 October in Kenya to debate the role of trade in poverty reduction in Africa. The meeting, convened by the CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics and Environment (CUTS-CITEE) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, provided an opportunity for policy makers and others involved in trade policy…
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Vacancies
VACANCIES UNEP-GEF REGIONAL TRAINING EXPERTS. The UNEP-GEF Project for "Capacity Building for Effective Participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH)" is seeking qualified candidates for consultancy positions. Specifically, UNEP-GEF is seeking to identify 20 Regional Training Experts on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB); and 50 Regional Training Experts in Information Technology…
- In Brief
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In Brief
EU PROPOSES NEW IMPORT DUTY ON BANANAS On 27 October, the EU announced that in amending its banana import regime and moving to a tariff-only system, it would impose a duty of EUR230 per ton of bananas starting in 2006. Following a ministerial meeting between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in…
- WTO in Brief
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Laos Begins WTO Membership Negotiations
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) kicked off its WTO membership negotiations on 28 October by outlining the trade reforms it has already undertaken and calling for sympathy for its status as a land-locked, least-developed country (LDC) without a representative in Geneva. The first meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of the Lao…
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WTO In Brief
LAOS BEGINS WTO MEMBERSHIP NEGOTIATIONS The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) kicked off its WTO membership negotiations on 28 October by outlining the trade reforms it has already undertaken and calling for sympathy for its status as a land-locked, least-developed country (LDC) without a representative in Geneva. The first meeting of the Working Party on the…
- 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: 4-10 November 18 October to 15 November: ONLINE CONFERENCE ON BIOSAFETY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS FOR MANAGEMENT OF ANIMAL POPULATIONS. The Biosafety…
- Resources
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Resources
FROM CANCUN TO HONG KONG: CHALLENGING CORPORATE-LED TRADE LIBERALISATION. By the Seattle to Brussels Network (S2B)(October 2004).The publication, a collection of contribution from a number of S2B’sMembers, which include Greenpeace, Attac and the World development Movement, offers an analysis of some of themost pressing issues in the current international trade setting, touching, among others,…