Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 19 • 28th May 2003
Resources
WTO REFLECTION PAPER ON TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING AND LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (2003), Communication from the European Communities and their member States, WT/WGTTT/W/5 and IP/C/W/398, 14 February 2003.
THE WORKING GROUP ON TRADE AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY (2003), Communication from Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, WT/WGTTT/W/6, 7 May 2003.
CREATING INCENTIVES FOR THE TRANSFER OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGIES (EST) - The Experience of the Swiss Development Cooperation, Communication from Switzerland, WT/WGTTT/W/7, 9 May 2003.
OTHER CONFRONTING GLOBALISATION: ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND POPULAR RESISTANCE IN MEXICO. Edited by Timothy A. Wise, Hilda Salazar, and Laura Carlsen (Kumarian Press, 2003). The authors seek to tell globalisation’s untold stories: its social and environmental costs and the grassroots search for alternative paths. They highlight how indigenous coffee farmers fight for a place in the global market, how sweatshop workers demand safe working conditions and basic labor rights, and how corn farmers organise to prevent the flood of imported grain from driving them off the land. The editors set the context and draw lessons from these real stories, offering a grounding in how trade policies affect vulnerable communities and the environment and what those communities are doing to defend themselves and promote their own homegrown alternatives.
CHANGING LANDSCAPES. By Duncan Poore (Earthscan, May 2003). The author reviews the evolution of policies for the sustainable use of tropical forests through a history of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO). Beginning with an introduction to the ecological, historical and socio-economic trends that have influenced contemporary global forest management regimes, he goes on to explore the complex political forces that have shaped the trade in tropical timber and its regulation.
VITAL SIGNS. Worldwatch Institute (2003). Vital Signs 2003 comprises a set of global indicators that together document the trends that are shaping our future in analyses and tables and graphs. This twelfth volume of the Worldwatch Institute series finds that the twin goals of protecting Earth’s fragile ecosystems and improving the prospects of billions of people will not be achieved as long as humanity remains divided into the extremes of rich and poor.
"Can corals be harvested sustainably?". By Vicki Harriott in AMBIO (Volume 32, Nr.2 2003). The international coral trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) agreement, which requires that export of corals is not detrimental to the species. The primary coral importing regions (USA and Europe) have threatened to limit or ban coral imports unless sustainable practices can be demonstrated. The spatial and temporal scale at which sustainability is defined is important in evaluating sustainability, e.g. at geological, regional or local scales. Other major issues are: the ecology of the target species; management options including provision of no-take areas; and the potential for coral culture. Implementation of practices that enhance ecological sustainability in the coral harvest fishery is possible, but may be difficult in some developing countries because of limited natural-resource management capacity.
TRADE STRUCTURE AND GROWTH. By William Maloney and Daniel Lederman (World Bank April 2003). Lederman and Maloney examine the empirical relationships between trade structure and economic growth, particularly the influence of natural resource abundance, export concentration, and intra-industry trade. They test the robustness of these relationships across proxies, control variables, and estimation techniques. The authors find trade variables to be important determinants of growth, especially natural resource abundance and export concentration. In contrast with much of the recent literature, natural resource abundance appears to have a positive effect on growth, whereas export concentration hampers growth, even after controlling for physical and human capital accumulation, among other factors.
AIR POLLUTION AND HEALTH IN RAPIDLY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Edited by Frank Murray and Gordon McGranahan (Earthscan, May 2003). In this book, researchers in both the scientific and policy dimensions of air pollution and health have synthesised the recent developments in the field and their relevance for public health in developing countries. The authors review studies from Asian, African and Latin American countries and contrast the findings with those from Europe and North America. They also describe various tools and systems for air pollution management and emphasise approaches that can be used when data are scarce.
CAPTURING CARBON AND CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY - THE MARKET APPROACH. Edited by Ian Swingland (Earthscan, May 2003). The authors make a case for the maximum use of carbon sinks, particularly in the developing world. Representing ecologists, conservationists, economists, lawyers, community and tribal specialists, financial specialists, climatologists, and project developers, they highlight the benefits of a market-based system of reducing and sequestering carbon. Combined with emissions trading, this approach would maximise benefit to the rural poor and indigenous people, while promoting habitat preservation and biodiversity, watershed protection, and the mitigation of global warming. Such a strategy would be the lowest cost approach, and the one most likely to succeed where central planning has failed. The authors seek to move beyond theory to show how people can build such a self-sustaining system by exploring the range of instruments available, and what can be achieved in the absence of undue regulation.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SISED ENTERPRISES. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has launched an updated version of this CD-ROM. The CD-ROM is available free of charge in six languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish), and is part of the Organisation’s efforts to raise awareness about the role of intellectual property (IP) in leveraging business development and improving competitiveness among the global SME community. These information tools are designed to enable SMEs to fully capitalise on their intellectual assets and to use the tools of the intellectual property system to advance their business goals. The CD-ROM seeks to supplement IP resources used for teaching and training business aspects of IP in law, engineering and management courses in a number of countries.