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Chinese Textile Exports Surge; US, EU To Invoke Textile Safeguard?
New data indicating a surge in Chinese textile and clothing imports since the abolition of trade quotas at the end of 2004 have prompted the US government to initiate a process that could potentially lead to the imposition of quantitative import restrictions on certain Chinese products. The EU, for its part, has unveiled a set…
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Trade Facilitation Discussions Continue: Members Consider New Proposals
WTO Members discussed several new proposals for simplifying and speeding up the procedures related to the cross-border movement of goods at the 22-23 March meeting of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation. Although Members did not have any major disagreements on the submissions considered, developing countries in particular expressed concerns about the cost of implementing…
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Cairns Group Meet Urges Full Commitment To Agriculture Liberalisation
Ministers from the Cairns Group of 17 agricultural exporters met in Cartagena, Colombia from 30 March to 1 April to discuss the ongoing negotiations at the WTO. Chaired by Australian Agriculture Minister Mark Vaile, the 27th meeting of the Cairns Group ended with the adoption of a ‘Cartagena Declaration,’ which stresses the need for a…
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Japan-Mexico FTA Comes Into Force
Japan’s free trade agreement (FTA) with Mexico came into effect on 1 April. The accord, signed in 2004 after over two years of hard negotiations, is Japan’s first comprehensive FTA to affect its heavily protected agriculture sector, lowering tariffs on Mexican exports including pork, chicken, and oranges. A latecomer to the international race to strike bilateral…
- In Brief
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In Brief
G8 MINISTERS TO TACKLE ILLEGAL LOGGING, FALL SHORT OF IMPORT BAN Environment and development ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations agreed at a 17-18 March meeting in Derbyshire, England, to step up efforts to combat the illegal timber trade by reducing both the supply of and demand for the illicit commodity, but fell…
- WTO in Brief
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Latin Americans Seek WTO Arbitration Over EU's Proposed Banana Tariff
WTO MEMBERS MISS 31 MARCH DEADLINE FOR TRIPS AMENDMENT WTO Member governments have missed a 31 March deadline for agreeing on how to modify the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in order to address concerns about access to affordable medicine. At an official meeting of the TRIPS Council on 31 March, Members…
- Events
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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 us. Coming up: 7 - 13 April 11-22 April 2005, New York: THIRTEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. CSD-13 is the policy session in the first two-year…
- Resources
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Resources
"Trade Effects of the East African Community." By Matthias Busse and Rasul Shams. THE ESTEY CENTRE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND TRADE POLICY, 2005. This report evaluates the trade effects of the new East African Community, which fosters trade liberalisation among Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It identifies commodities that will be particularly affected by the…