Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 42 • 11th December 2003
Resources
WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003. By the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This report has been specially prepared for the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, Geneva, 10-12 December 2003). This year’s report examines the specific issue of measuring access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). ITU has long been involved in analysing access to ICTs. As early as 1984, the Maitland Commission Report, known as "The Missing Link," first drew international attention to the large inequities in telephone access across the world. ITU’s 1998 World Telecommunication Development Report — on "Universal Access" — updated the "Missing Link" findings in light of technological and regulatory changes affecting the telecommunication industry. For further information see: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/publications/wtdr_03/index.html
THE WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY 2003. By the UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs (December 2003). The report contains the United Nations’ annual analysis of current developments in the world economy and emerging policy issues. It contains the Secretariat’s forecast of short-term global and regional economic trends, reviews major developments in international trade and discusses the net transfer of financial resources of developing countries. The Survey includes statistical tables, which give standardised data on macroeconomic, international trade and finance. For further information see: http://www.un.org/esa/analysis/wess/
DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW. By Philippe Cullet (Ashgate Publishing, 2003). This book is a comprehensive study of differential treatment for developing countries in international environmental law. It offers an analysis of the legal dimension of the relationship between developed and developing countries in the environmental field and beyond. It first critically examines the principle of legal equality of states and then explores the conceptual framework behind the notion of differential treatment in international law and its relevance in bringing about substantive equality. The book examines the development of differentiation in international environmental law, considers its application in various environmental treaties and evaluates the legal status of existing differential norms. For further information see: http://www.ielrc.org
INTERNATIONAL LAW ON INVESTMENT: THE MINIMUM STANDARD OF TREATMENT (MST). By the Centre for International Environmental Law (August 2003). This is a briefing note analysing the minimum standard of treatment under international investment law. The note surveys the origins of the concept in international law, its incorporation in investment treaties, and its invocation by investors in the context of disputes with host governments (particularly under the NAFTA). For further information see: http://www.ciel.org/Publications/investment_10Nov03.pdf
MUTUAL MISGIVINGS: CIVIL SOCIETY INCLUSION IN THE AMERICAS. By Yasmine Shamsie (North-South Institute, October 2003). The author analyses the participation of Civil Society Organisations in the hemispheric-wide processes, providing essential background for those seeking to understand the dynamics in and around negotiations and in the streets. The document analyses the why, what, who, and how of government engagement with civil society organisations and raises issues for further debate. For further information see: http://www.nsi-ins.ca/ensi/news_views/news57.html
ACCESS AND BENEFIT-SHARING (ABS): AN INSTRUMENT FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION - PROPOSALS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL ABS REGIME. By Gudrun Henne, Klaus Liebig, Andreas Drews, Thomas Plän (German Development Institute, Bonn). This study has been prepared as a scientific contribution to the "Second Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing," held in Montreal, Canada, from 1- 5 December 2003. The authors take as their common starting point the view that the Contracting Parties of the CBD should use the on-going process to develop and implement an international regime to promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources with a view to increasing the effectiveness of ABS as an instrument of poverty alleviation. For further information see: http://www.die-gdi.de/die_homepage.nsf/654d7718232dc2a7c1256bda0022626d/7068b149353699a0c1256de90030c95c?OpenDocument
AUSTRIA BIOTECHNOLOGY: STATUS OF BIOTECH REGULATIONS 2003. By the US Department of Agriculture GAIN Report (October 2003). This report finds that Austrian consumers perceive that the US is trying to force them to consume genetically modified (GM) products rather than their own organic products. "Science-based pro-biotech discussions with government regulators provide no change in consumer opinions and thus no change in Austrian laws," the report says. The report concludes that Austrian consumer opinion must change in order for anti-GM laws to be changed. For further information see: http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200310/145986564.pdf
WTO Resources
TRIPS AND PUBLIC HEALTH: DEDICATED WEBPAGE FOR NOTIFICATIONS. The WTO website now includes a dedicated page for member governments to make known their use (or intention to use) provisions allowing cheaper pharmaceutical products to be traded more easily across borders under compulsory licensing. For the page see http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/public_health_e.htm
WTO DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 2: IMPROVING THE AVAILABILITY OF TRADE FINANCE DURING FINANCIAL CRISES. By the WTO (November 2003). This discussion paper explores the reasons behind the failure by private markets and other institutions to meet demand for cross-border and domestic short- term trade finance during financial crises such as the one, which affected emerging economies in the 1990s. To access the report visit: http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/dis02_e.pdf