Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 9 • Number 42 • 7th December 2005
Resources
INTERNATIONAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS AND POVERTY REDUCTION: THE WHITE PAPER ON COTTON. Edited by Eric Hazard. Enda Prospectives Dialogues Politiques, 2005. In 2001, US cotton subsidies, and to a lesser extent European ones, contributed to the biggest collapse in world cotton prices in constant terms since 1793. The cotton-producing countries of West and Central Africa, already amongst the poorest countries in the world, suffered direct losses of over USD 250 million. At the same time, 25,000 American cotton producers received cotton subsides that represented three times the total budget of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). On 16 May 2003, four countries - Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad - appealed to the WTO to find sustainable solutions to this cotton crisis. This book is a revised collection of papers on the issue that were presented at a workshop organised by Enda Tiers Monde, the African Cotton Association (ACA) and the Association of African Cotton Producers (AProCA) in Saly, Senegal, on 6-7 May 2005. The essays first review the history of the Cotton Sectorial Initiative, and then discuss current issues such as power relationships, resistance to change and manoeuvrability in the context of the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference, scheduled to take place from 13-18 December. The book will be officially released at the 12 December Cotton Day event in Hong Kong, China. Available online at http://www.ictsd.org/ministerial/hongkong/docs/cotton_book_en.pdf.
THE DERAILER’S GUIDE TO THE WTO. By Focus on the Global South, 2005. This publication argues that the Doha Round negotiations are heading in a direction that will have disastrous impacts on food security and sovereignty, industry, employment, the environment, livelihoods and the access of millions of people to essential services, technology and health-care. In this context, the book provides basic information about the WTO agreements, is the issues on the negotiating table for the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference and the remainder of the Doha Round, and the main actors in these negotiations. The authors assert that in order to protect our ability to shape development to meet the priorities of our communities and societies, it is imperative that a new trade deal is not reached in Hong Kong or in subsequent negotiations. Focus on the Global South asserts that the WTO must be "derailed," and offers ideas about how people committed to social and economic justice can stalemate, or derail, the latest offensive for liberalisation through the WTO parading under the guise of "development." Available online at http://www.world-psi.org/TemplateEn.cfm?Section=Whats_New&CONTENTID=10242&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm.
FARMSUBSIDY.ORG. This new website, launched by an international network of journalists and activists, was established to improve public access to information on who gets what from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The website facilitates access to data on farm subsidy payments obtained through requests made under legislation on public access to information. In 2004, the CAP paid out EUR 43.5 billion in farm subsidies. However, unlike most other areas of EU expenditure, the payments have been kept secret. This began to change in 2004, when the Danish International Center for Analytical Reporting (DICAR) — an organisation of Danish investigative journalists — succeeded in their application for data on farm subsidy payments in Denmark. The website was built by DICAR in association with UK-based non-profit EU Transparency and a network of campaigners in other EU member states. So far, the data has revealed that many of the EU’s wealthiest people (including royal families, nobility and senior politicians) are amongst the biggest recipients of taxpayer-funded handouts. Data has also shown that large multinational food companies and government agencies are amongst the biggest recipients of aid under the CAP.
TRADE FACILITATION PROJECT IN KENYA: STUDY OF ADMINISTRATIVE BARRIERS AND OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO TRADE IN KENYA. Prepared by Emerging Market Economics and Almaco Management Consultants Ltd., July 2005. In recognition of the important role that trade facilitation could play in helping Kenya and other African countries reap the potential benefits from greater integration into the international trading system, the Commonwealth Secretariat commissioned this study on the administrative barriers and other impediments to trade in Kenya. The study describes the trade facilitation priorities expressed by many public and private sector stakeholders, as well as their recommendations on how to overcome these administrative and other trade barriers. Available online at http://www.tradeandindustry.go.ke/documents/report_administrative_barriers05.pdf.
THE UNESCO CONVENTION ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY, AND THE WTO: DIVERSITY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW-MAKING? By Joost Pauwelyn. An American Society for International Law Insight, 15 November 2005. This short paper discusses the implications of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) convention to protect cultural diversity for established WTO rules. On the premise that cultural goods cannot be treated as mere commodities, the text grants nations the sovereign right to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions within their territory. Some commentators view the new treaty as a thinly disguised attempt, led by France and Canada, to offer a shield against the spread of American culture, in particular Hollywood movies. The major bone of contention in the negotiations was not about finding the most effective policy for different cultures to flourish. It was rather about how the new treaty — explicitly permitting the protection of cultural industries — would relate to existing free trade rules at the WTO. The paper discusses this potential conflict and suggests that the WTO would have to "walk a fine line" between respect for validly created international law and the principle that no state should be held by international law that it has consistently objected to. Available online at http://www.asil.org/insights/2005/11/insights051115.html.