Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest

Volume 9 • Number 16 11th May 2005

  • Agriculture: Key Trade Ministers Strike Ave Deal In Paris
    Ministers from thirty key WTO Member countries made a technical breakthrough in the WTO agriculture talks on 4 May on an issue that had been bedeviling the overall progress of the Doha Round talks. They reached a preliminary compromise on how to convert ’specific’ agricultural tariffs based on quantities imported into ‘ad valorem’ equivalents (AVEs),…
  • Paris Mini-Ministerial Revives Optimism About July 'Approximations'
    Trade ministers from 30 influential WTO Member countries have once again cast their eyes on the end of July for coming up with well-developed ‘first approximations’ of a deal that Members may then flesh out and adopt at the WTO’s December Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. This followed a 4 May breakthrough on a technical…
  • Trade Facilitation Talks See Flurry Of New Proposals
    The 2-3 May meeting of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation saw several new proposals, as its previous session had in March (see BRIDGES Weekly, 6 April 2005). Eleven new papers were tabled, by both developing and developed country Members. As before, the simplification and standardisation of rules governing the movement of goods was an underlying…
  • Services: Members Discuss Mode 4-Related Visa Procedures
    The special session of the Council for Trade in Services reconvened on 27 April to continue discussions on a number of negotiating proposals and statements that had been made to its last meeting in February. Although the meeting had been slated to focus on the earlier submissions, Members devoted most of their attention to two new…
  • In Brief
  • In Brief
    WTO FOOD AID DISCIPLINES COULD INCREASE HUNGER, WARNS UN AGENCY CHIEF The head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned WTO delegates from developing countries on 9 May that improperly drafted new rules on food aid could contribute to hunger in the world’s poorest countries. The EU and other exporters of agricultural products have been arguing…
  • In Brief
    WTO FOOD AID DISCIPLINES COULD INCREASE HUNGER, WARNS UN AGENCY CHIEF The head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned WTO delegates from developing countries on 9 May that improperly drafted new rules on food aid could contribute to hunger in the world’s poorest countries. The EU and other exporters of agricultural products have been arguing…
  • WTO in Brief
  • WTO In Brief
    DSU REVIEW NEGOTIATIONS: DISCUSSIONS ON PROPOSALS CONTINUE The special (negotiating) session of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) met on 9-10 May to continue discussions on how to improve and clarify the rules governing dispute settlement. On 9 May, Members discussed one new proposal as well as several recently-tabled ones. Australia submitted the new paper, which…
  • WTO In Brief
    DSU REVIEW NEGOTIATIONS: DISCUSSIONS ON PROPOSALS CONTINUE The special (negotiating) session of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) met on 9-10 May to continue discussions on how to improve and clarify the rules governing dispute settlement. On 9 May, Members discussed one new proposal as well as several recently-tabled ones. Australia submitted the new paper, which…
  • 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 us. Coming Up: 12 May - 18 May 16-20 May, Auckland, New Zealand: MEETING OF THE AD HOC TECHNICAL EXPERT GROUP ON GAPS AND INCONSISTENCIES IN THE INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY…
  • 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 us. Coming Up: 12 May - 18 May 16-20 May, Auckland, New Zealand: MEETING OF THE AD HOC TECHNICAL EXPERT GROUP ON GAPS AND INCONSISTENCIES IN THE INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY…
  • Resources
  • RESOURCES
    "Environmental Impacts Of Trade In India" by Kakali Mukhopadhyay and Debesh Chakraborty in INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOURNAL 19 (2), Summer 2005. This article aims at contributing to the environment and trade debate by evaluating the impacts of international trade on emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides for the Indian economy during 90s using…