Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 3 • Number 22 • 12th December 2003
In Brief
In Brief
DOHA ROUND: TALKS STALL, NEGOTIATING GROUPS TO RESUME IN 2004
On 9 December, WTO General Council Chair Carlos Perez del Castillo (Uruguay) announced that Members would not be able to relaunch talks at the 15 December General Council meeting. Instead he told Members attending a Heads of Delegation (HODs) meeting that he would present a Chair’s report on 15 December — instead of a new negotiating draft — which, would outline progress thus far, identifying key issues and setting out a process for advancing the Doha round. Members have been engaging in informal talks on four key issues — agriculture, industrial market access, cotton and the ‘Singapore’ issues of investment, competition, trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement — in order to reach a framework for restarting trade negotiations launched at Doha in 2001, and stalled since the failure of the fifth Ministerial Conference in Cancun in September 2003 (see BRIDGES Weekly, 4 December 2003). Chair Castillo pointed out that although Members are still committed to the multilateral trade system and the round, little real negotiation and bridging of positions had taken place. Castillo suggested that all negotiating bodies, including the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) overseeing their work, would be re-actived next year after new chairs were elected. In this context some developed country Members questioned the utility of restarting negotiating groups even though no real progress had been made in talks. Other Members, such as India, were content to return to negotiating groups, as this would ensure a transparent process. In 2004, GC Chair Perez del Castillo will spend much of the first two months on the selection process for new chairs for the various WTO working groups, after which negotiations can resume. Chair Perez del Castillo has also indicated that Members should address the issue of the overall timetable for the Doha round early next year, as the January 2005 deadline is looking increasingly out of reach. The first GC session is tentatively scheduled for 11-12 February.
For a more in-depth account of the meeting see the forthcoming BRIDGES Weekly, 18 December 2003.
ICTSD reporting; "WTO Negotiator Concedes Govts Won’t Resume Talks By Dec," REUTERS, 9 December 2003; "G-20 trade group meets in Brasilia as WTO’s Doha Round stalls," AP, 10 December 2003.
REGIONAL CONSERVATION FORUM CONSIDERS TRADE ISSUES
Conservationists, government officials, donors and business leaders gathered from 10 to 13 December in Colombo, Sir Lanka, to identify critical conservation and environmental issues of the Asia region and identify a plan of action to address these over the next five years. Organised by IUCN - The World Conservation Union and the Sri Lankan government, the overall heading of the conference was "Growing Together Ecosystems and Livelihoods" and covered issues related to: ecosystems and landscapes; conservation as a poverty reduction strategy; and trade globalisation and poverty. On trade and poverty participants shared their knowledge on the state of the multilateral trade negotiations and the related challenges to biodiversity conservation and on how these challenges best could be addressed. In this context the President of the IUCN Committee of Bangladesh said "the current focus on poverty alleviation says that people are the centre of the development debate; but in reality trade is at the heart of this debate". In this regard participants discussed various case studies on how international trade influences the conservation of biodiversity, such as the reduction of crop diversity in the remote Northern Areas of Pakistan.
With regards to the relationship between biodiversity conservation and poverty, participants grappled with two fundamental questions: how can IUCN mainstream poverty in its conservation work and how can conservation make a contribution to poverty reduction. Sunita Narain, IUCN Councillor from India said: "environment is not a luxury — poverty and environment are two sides of the same coin. Environmental degradation and poverty go hand in hand". Ahead of the meeting, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources had commented on the interlinkages between economic growth and natural resources use, saying that it would be crucial to find the right balance between the two in order to ensure sustainability. The IUCN President furthermore highlighted that "the conservation of natural resources is a fundamental necessity for economic development". The outcomes of the meeting will be used to define Asia’s environmental priorities and actions, and will feed into the IUCN World Conservation Congress, to be held in November 2004.
"A Conservation Agenda for Asia," IUCN, 10 December 2003; "Regional Conservation Forum Consolidates IUCN’s Work in Asia - Experts tackle poverty, trade, ecosystems and governance," 12 December 2003.
SUSTAINABLE COFFEE INITIATIVE TO ESTABLISH NEW PARTNERSHIP PLATFORM
On 8-9 December, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Sustainable Coffee Initiative (SCI) held a meeting on "Sustainability in the Coffee Sector: Exploring Opportunities for International Cooperation - Assessment and Implementation". Participants established an interim Steering Committee for the creation of a Sustainable Coffee Partnership (SCP) as a platform for global research, policy development and cooperation around sustainable coffee trade. Among others, the Steering Committee would include the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank. The workshop, held in Geneva, attracted some 80 to 90 representatives from coffee grower associations, the coffee trading and roasting business, Fair Trade and Organic labelling organisations, the funding community, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations. The meeting was a follow-up to a February 2003 SCI multistakeholder brainstorming workshop that had identified key issues (see BRIDGES Weekly, 19 February 2003). These issues, which were addressed at the meeting, included: financing for sustainability in coffee; sustainable contracts; sustainability standards; and the creation of a Sustainable Coffee Partnership (SCP). Participants brought up questions such as whether grants or credits would be the appropriate financing tool to achieve sustainability in the coffee sector; whether the contractual relationship between producer and buyer could be a means through which sustainability could be promoted, and how harmonisation of, mutual recognition amongst, and cooperation between the many different standard systems could be a big step towards sustainability.
ICTSD reporting.
CAN COCOA SAVE THE RAINFOREST?
Cocoa could be grown in a way that helps preserve and restore the northern part of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, according to a new study from the Worldwatch Institute. The report entitled "Venture Capitalism for a Tropical Forest" suggests that Brazil would have the opportunity to boost its domestic industry, provide rural employment and support the conservation of biodiversity by growing, manufacturing, and exporting chocolate products derived from cocoa trees grown in rainforests. The report highlights that if Brazil, the fifth largest cocoa-producing country, would get engaged in producing cocoa products, which are produced on an ecologically and socially sound basis. Chris Bright, one of the authors of the report points out: "Forest cocoa could really use some outside investment. As a global commodity, chocolate is worth more than USD 40 billion a year. We should be able to find the relatively modest sums necessary for developing cocoa as an eco-business." In related news, a recent study by Cornell University points out that hot cocoa can also help fight cancer, heart disease and aging, as it contains more antioxidants per cup than a similar serving of red wine or tea.
"Chocolate Offers New Hope for Saving Endangered Rainforest," WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE PRESS RELEASE, 4 December 2003; "Hot Cocoa, the Healthy Drink?," DRKOOP.COM, 5 December 2003.
PIC TREATY SET TO ENTER INTO FORCE
On 27 November, Armenia became the 50th country to ratify the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, triggering the treaty’s entry into force in February 2004. Klaus Töpfer, UNEP’s Executive Director, commented that "thanks to the Rotterdam Convention, we now have an effective system in place for avoiding many of the deadly mistakes made in past decades when people were less aware of the dangers of toxic chemicals". Jacques Diouf, the Director-General from the UN FAO, added that "inappropriate pesticides and their misuse still threaten health and environment in developing countries… the Rotterdam Convention provides countries with a major tool to reduce the risks associated with pesticide use". The PIC procedure is aimed at making information about hazardous chemicals readily available in order to facilitate informed decisions by Parties on the import of chemicals and associated risks.
The PIC intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) recently met in Geneva to prepare for the treaty’s entry into force (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 28 November 2003). The first meeting of the PIC Conference of the Parties is expected to take place in November 2004.
"Informed Consent Treaty For Hazardous Chemicals To Become Law," ENS, 28 November 2003; "Treaty on hazardous chemicals and pesticides trade to become law," UNEP RELEASE, 27 November 2003.