Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 10 • Number 37 • 8th November 2006
Resources
WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK 2006. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), 7 November 2006. It explores two alternate international energy futures, and responds to the remit of the G-8 world leaders by mapping a new energy future, contrasting it with where we are now headed. It counts the costs and benefits of both futures and explains how to change course. The Outlook also addresses the world’s economic reaction to high energy prices; recent trends in oil and gas investment; the prospects for a nuclear energy revival; future prospects for the biofuel industry; energy usage in developing countries; and recent energy trends in Brazil. For more information, internet: http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/2006.asp.
STATE OF PLAY IN AGRICULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS: COUNTRY GROUPINGS’ POSITIONS (NOVEMBER 2006 UPDATE). South Centre, November 2006. This note provides an overview of the position and groups of countries active in the WTO Agriculture negotiations with respect to critical issues under discussion in the market access pillar, the domestic support pillar, the export competition pillar, and the cotton initiative. To access the report, visit http://www.southcentre.org/.
SOUTH-SOUTH TRADE IN GOODS. By Przemyslaw Kowalski and Ben Shepherd. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Trade Policy Working Paper No. 40, 16 October 2006. The empirical analysis presented in this paper indicates that trade between developing countries (South-South trade) offers a wide scope for specialisation and efficiency gains. The first part of the paper explores past trends in world goods trade with a special focus on South-South trade. Analysis shows that far from experiencing "death of distance," South-South trade is still severely constrained by distance-related trade costs and that reducing South-South tariff barriers can have a major impact on trade flows. The second part employs a computable general equilibrium model in a forward looking assessment of the balance of gains from multilateral trade liberalization, also focusing on South-South trade. This analysis suggests that, from a development point of view, South-South liberalisation is at least as important as tariff-free market access to Northern markets. To access this paper, visit http://appli1.oecd.org/olis/2006doc.nsf/linkto/td-tc(2006)8-final.