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WTO: Trade, Environment Officials Progress On MEA-WTO Links
On 11 and 12 November, officials from WTO Member trade and environment ministries convened with multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) secretariats for two back-to-back meetings, where they considered the relationship between the WTO and MEAs, in particular how to improve information exchange between the two regimes. The 11 November session, organised by the UN Environment Programme…
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WTO: S&D Review Struggles For Agreement
The last three weeks has seen special sessions of the WTO’s Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) meet three times to discuss agreement- specific submissions as part of its review of special and differential treatment (S&D) provisions for developing countries. Starting with a 23 October meeting on safeguards and services, they met again on 6 November…
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CITES Moves On Whales And Ivory
Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), meeting for their 12th Conference in Santiago, Chile, on 4-15 November, rejected a proposal by Japan to allow limited trade in certain populations of whales. While they approved a one-off sale of ivory stockpiles in Botswana, Namibia and South…
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SPS Committee Discusses EU GMO Regulations As Possible WTO Challenge Looms
At the 7-8 November meeting of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina and the Philippines again raised concerns regarding the EU’s continued de facto moratorium on the approval of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (see BRIDGES Weekly, 3 July 2002). Australia also added concerns regarding the EU’s…
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USTR Proposes New FTA With South African Nations
On 4 November, US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick informed Congressional leaders of the Bush Administration’s intent to begin negotiations in the hopes of forming a free trade agreement (FTA) with the countries included in the South African Customs Union (SACU): Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Swaziland. The negotiations are expected to commence in…
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FTAs Multiply In Asian Region
On 5 November, one day after Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and China signed a framework agreement to begin negotiations next year to create what would be the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA) (see BRIDGES Weekly, 7 November 2002), the group of 10 countries announced that it would also begin talks with…
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US Requests Consultations On Venezuelan Agricultural Barriers
On 7 November, the United States requested consultations with Venezuela at the WTO over aspects of the Latin American country’s agricultural import regime. The dispute focuses on Venezuela’s import licensing processes, which according to the US Trade Representative (USTR) restrict US agricultural exports to Venezuela. American agricultural exports to Venezuela are estimated at about USD…
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WTO Resources
WTO Documents The following recently released WTO documents of note from a sustainable development perspective are available on the WTO website at: http://docsonline.wto.org/. Negotiating Group on Market Access FORMULA APPROACHES TO TARIFF NEGOTIATIONS (TN/MA/S/3/Rev.1). Negotiating Group on Market Access. Note by the Secretariat; revision, 4 November 2002. The study was compiled as a response to…
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Puri New UNCTAD Trade Division Director
On 21 October, Lakshmi Puri (India) was appointed as the next Director of the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Division for Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC). Ms. Puri joins UNCTAD after 28 years with the Indian Foreign Service, working on administration and policy-making and in bilateral and multilateral economic diplomacy,…
- In Brief
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European Commission Releases Draft Ecodesign Legislation
EUROPEAN LABOUR MEP TAKES STANCE AGAINST EU SUGAR REGIME In an open letter published on 9 November, Labour Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales, Glenys Kinnock, called on the EU and other WTO Members to reform agricultural policies based on export subsidies, internal price supports and direct aid to producers, blaming them for…
- Events
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Events
For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar at: http://www.ictsd.org/cal/index.htm.. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch . Coming Up This Week: 14-21 November 14-15 November, Sydney, Australia: ‘MINI-MINISTERIAL’ MEETING OF CERTAIN WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION MEMBERS. A so-called ‘mini-…
- Resources
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Resources
If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy for review by the BRIDGES staff to resources@ictsd.ch . Submissions of publications to ICTSD’s documentation centre would also be welcomed (see mailing address below). INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Edited by Kevin…