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EU Offer Of Deeper Farm Tariff Cuts Fails To Restart Talks
In response to heavy pressure from many of its major trading partners, the EU came forward on 28 October with a deeper proposal to cut its farm tariffs — in return for specific, far-reaching concessions in virtually every area of the Doha Round negotiations (see related article, same issue). Preliminary reactions from many governments and trade…
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EU's Price For Farm Tariff Cuts Too Steep, Say Developing Countries
The price that the EU has placed on its offer of deeper Doha Round farm tariff cuts — far-reaching demands on industrial tariffs, services, and systemic issues — has raised the ire of many WTO Members (see related story, this issue). The EU’s 28 October proposal to open its markets wider to farm products from other…
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WTO Arbitrators Once Again Reject EU's Proposed Banana Import Tariff
WTO arbitrators have rejected the EU’s revised reform package for its banana import regime, determining that it would fail to maintain market access for Latin American producers (see BRIDGES Weekly, 5 October 2005). The 27 October decision found that the EU’s proposed 187 euro per tonne most-favoured nation (MFN) tariff was too high to safeguard or…
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Fisheries Subsidies Negotiations Look At Infrastructure, Hong Kong
Negotiations on fisheries subsidies during the 26 October session of the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules focused on whether the large sums spent on building and maintaining fisheries infrastructure should be specifically targeted by new disciplines. Discussions centred on a paper from New Zealand (TN/RL/GEN/70) that called for fisheries subsidies to be included as a category…
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Trade Facilitation: Members Move Towards Hong Kong Draft Report
The WTO Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation convened on 24-25 October with the main purpose of preparing its report for the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December, as well as its contribution to the first draft version of the declaration that ministers may eventually adopt there. Members overwhelmingly agreed that the report should refer to…
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G-33 Outlines Special Safeguard Mechanism For Developing Countries
The forty-odd members of the G-33 WTO grouping last week came forward with a methodology for a ’special safeguard mechanism’ (SSM), as provided for in the 2004 July Package (WTO/L/579), which would allow developing countries to quickly put in place high levels of tariffs to protect themselves from import surges or a collapse in import…
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Anti-Dumping: Members Look At New Proposals, Still Unsure About HK Outcome
During the 24-25 October 2005 session of the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules, Members discussed several new proposals related to anti-dumping. Most time was spent on two proposals dealing with the impacts of anti-dumping investigations entail on exporters. Delegates also discussed a US submission seeking to discipline practices that amount to the circumvention of anti-dumping…
- In Brief
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In Brief
ELEVEN EU MEMBERS REJECT COMMISSION’S SUGAR REFORM The EU’s position in WTO farm trade talks was posed with another obstacle on 25 October, when 11 of its member states rejected the proposed reforms to EU sugar policy that the European Commission had put forward in June. The reform package would cut the guaranteed internal minimum prices…
- WTO in Brief
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GI Talks Going In Circles; EU Makes GI Extension Hong Kong Priority
The Special Session of the WTO Council on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) met on 27 October to discuss the creation of a multilateral register for the notification and registration of geographical indications (GIs) for wines and spirits. A separate set of informal consultations had been held the day before, during which Members discussed…
- 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 us. Upcoming : 3 November - 9 November 3-4 November, Hanoi, Vietnam: NATIONAL TRAINING WORKSHOP ON ENHANCING POLICY CO-ORDINATION ON TRADE…
- Resources
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Resources
STRENGTHENING THE GLOBAL TRADE ARCHITECTURE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: AN AGENDA FOR ACTION. Global Trade and Financial Architecture Briefing Paper, 2005. This paper presents the major findings and recommendations of the Global Trade and Financial Architecture project — a group of trade experts convened by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and chaired by former…