Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 44 • 22nd December 2004
Resources
A MODEL INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT AGREEMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. By Konrad von Moltke, International Institute for Sustainable Development, November 2004. The current model for international investment agreements (including many failed attempts, such as the OECD’s MAI) is too narrowly focused on investor rights. This paper asks what an investment agreement would look like if its goal from the outset were to achieve sustainable development. The result is a novel mix of rights and obligations for investors, host states and home states. Available online at http://www.iisd.org/publications/publication.asp?pno=660.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE COTONOU AGREEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE ACP COUNTRIES AND BEYOND. By Konrad von Moltke, International Institute for Sustainable Development, November 2004. This paper assesses the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) — an agreement between the EU and a group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, most of them former colonies. The CPA relies heavily on the benefits of trade liberalisation, complemented by EU aid in various forms. How likely is it that this grand experiment will promote sustainable development, and what else needs to be done to ensure that it does? Available online at http://www.iisd.org/publications/publication.asp?pno=659.
CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR THE WTO. Edited by Andrew D. Mitchell. Cameron May, 2004. This book from international law publishers Cameron May includes contributions from academics, lawyers, and diplomats based on papers delivered at the Sixth and Seventh Conferences of the World Trade Law Association (WTLA) in London, as well as specially commissioned chapters. The chapters of this book follow four broad themes: (1) the state of play in WTO negotiations and disputes; (2) defining the boundaries of the WTO; (3) the scope of WTO dispute settlement; and (4) the interface between regional trade agreements and the WTO. For further information, contact Cameron May Ltd. International Law Publishers, 17 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9BU, England; tel: +44-(0)20-7799-3636; fax: +44-(0)20-7222-8517; email: info@cameronmay.com; Internet: http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/cameronmay/cm
THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA - IMPACTS ON TRADE AND POVERTY. Overseas Development Institute (ODI), October 2004. The Doha Round of the World Trade Organization was named the Development Agenda, but there are clear divergences of interests among developing countries. The slow progress of the negotiations, the breakdown at Cancun, and the uneasy compromise reached in July 2004 confirmed that we must look at different parts of the agenda and different groups of countries in order to determine who benefits. Even where trade reforms unambiguously improve total world welfare, the distribution among countries may leave some losers, and even in countries that gain, some may lose. This series of papers summarises the ODI’s assessments of the principal issues of the WTO round, how the outcome might affect poverty, the progress of the negotiations, and the impact on four different countries. Available online at http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/briefing/doha/index.html