Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 5 • 12th February 2003
WTO In Brief
TOKYO MINI-MINISTERIAL TO ADDRESS AGRICULTURE, ACCESS TO MEDICINES
Trade ministers are scheduled to meet from 14-16 February in Tokyo, Japan, to accelerate trade talks agreed on at the fourth WTO Ministerial in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. Japan’s WTO ambassador, Shotaro Oshima said, in advance of the meeting, that "We don’t expect any agreement in the talks because it is not a negotiating session, but if discussions are such that they result in a sense among ministers that they will redouble their engagement, I would characterize that as a success". Some observers have criticised such meetings for being exclusive, leaving out many parties with a stake in the negotiations. Agricultural negotiations feature among the issues topping the meeting agenda, with WTO Members facing a 31 March deadline for deciding on the scope of cuts to import tariffs and subsidies they will aim to make in this round of trade negotiations. The meeting will include six agriculture ministers, who have been invited to attend a mini- Ministerial for the first time. Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and public health is another high-profile issue that will feature at the talks in Tokyo. Members recently suspended a General Council meeting to gain more time for negotiations on this issue (see story in this issue of BRIDGES Weekly). A previous mini- Ministerial meeting was held in Sydney, Australia, in November. Twenty- five ministers have been invited to join the meeting in Tokyo.
"Agriculture, Drugs For Poor Nations To Dominate WTO Mtg," AP, 11 February 2003.