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Agriculture Update: G-33 Meeting In Jakarta; Proposals For Tighter Green Box
Ministers from the G-33 countries — developing countries that support the concepts of special products (SP) and a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) — met from 11-12 June in Jakarta to develop synergies and coordinate positions with a view to the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial meeting in December. Meanwhile, the last agriculture week, which ended on…
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EU, CEU, China Reach Textiles Agreement
European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai on 10 June agreed to a deal that will limit ten categories of Chinese textiles exports to the EU to between 8 and 12.5 percent growth above a specified base period for the next three years. Under the agreement, which came at the end…
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India's 'Project Approach' Causes Stir At Environmental Goods Talks
At an informal consultation on environmental goods on 10 June, WTO Members discussed a new submission by India proposing the use of what is now referred to as the "project approach", which would link the accelerated (albeit temporary) liberalisation of environmental goods to their use in environmental projects. Canada and New Zealand also submitted new…
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WIPO Committee Fails To Move On Traditional Knowledge Treaty
The eighth session of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), held in Geneva from 6-10 June 2005, ended without agreement on the major issues before it. These included proposals that could form the basis for an international mechanism for the protection of…
- In Brief
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In Brief
ANDEAN COUNTRIES, US MAKE SLOW PROGRESS ON FTA The Andean countries — Colombia, Ecuador and Peru — finished the tenth round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the US in Guayaquil on 10 June. The negotiators reached agreements on e-commerce and capacity building, but will need more time to work out the details regarding financial…
- WTO in Brief
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WTO In Brief
MEMBERS ADVANCE NAMA DISCUSSIONS After a week of negotiations that ended on 10 June, the Chair of the Negotiating Group on Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA), Ambassador Stefan Johannesson of Iceland, said "support for a simple Swiss formula has grown measurably, with support depending on the level of the coefficients and their linkage with the flexibilities."…
- 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: 16 June - 22 June 16-17 June, La Jolla, United States of America: 2ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON LATIN AMERICAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. The conference will bring together…
- Resources
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Resources
"Environmental Goods and Services in the WTO" by Chantal Line Carpentier, Kevin Gallagher, and Scott Vaughan in Journal of Environment and Development (14) 2, June 2005. Although negotiations for environmental Goods and Services (EGS) show promise for sustainable development, this promise will only be realized if the liberalisation takes into account existing market asymmetries and…