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WTO Fisheries Subsidies Talks Move Forward
Fisheries subsidies discussions in the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules on 21-23 February focused on a new submission by Japan — this time officially supported by Korea and Chinese Taipei — that further described its approach to developing disciplines on such subsidies. Many observers expressed cautious optimism regarding the progress of the talks, but stressed…
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Environmental Goods Dominate CTE Agenda
Delegates at the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) on 24-25 February focused their discussions almost entirely on environmental goods, with new submissions by Korea, New Zealand and the EU. Several developed countries urged Members to pick up the pace of the negotiations with the aim of agreeing on a list…
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Services Cluster Inconclusive, Negotiations In Trouble
The increased activity in the ongoing WTO services negotiations has not been matched by actual progress, said Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh, chief of the WTO Secretariat’s Services Division, following the end of the three-week ‘cluster’ of services talks (see BRIDGES Weekly, 23 February 2005). The period of intense multilateral, plurilateral, and bilateral meetings concluded with a 25 February…
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Civil Society Meets to Plan Activities For Hong Kong
At a 26-27 February meeting in Hong Kong to coordinate their activities in the run-up to the WTO Ministerial Conference to be held there December, representatives from over one hundred civil society organisations discussed the progress of the ongoing round of trade negotiations and addressed organisational questions about activities surrounding the meeting (see BRIDGES Weekly,…
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Friends Of Anti-Dumping' Call For Action To Match Progress In Other Areas
‘Members disagreed on how best to progress in negotiations on anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures at the 23 February formal meeting of WTO Negotiating Group on Rules. At the meeting, Korea presented a Senior Officials’ statement (TN/RL/W/171) calling for accelerated WTO negotiations on anti-dumping rules. The statement was originally issued 11 February following a meeting…
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'DSU Review: Members Discuss Two New Contributions
At the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) Special (negotiating) Session meeting on 28 February, discussions focused on two new informal contributions circulated during the previous week. The first contribution by a group of seven delegations — Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, New Zealand and Norway — addressed the issue of enhanced third-party rights at all stages…
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On the Move
On 18 February, the Bush Administration designated Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Peter F. Allgeier to be Acting USTR. Yash Tandon, the Director and Founder of the Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), took over as Executive Director of the South Centre in Geneva, effective January 2005.…
- In Brief
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India, Pakistan Discuss Bilateral Trade
SUPACHAI TO BECOME UNCTAD SECRETARY-GENERAL UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has nominated WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand to succeed Brazilian Rubens Ricupero as head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The nomination must be confirmed by the UN General Assembly, but this is thought to be a formality, as no objections are anticipated.…
- WTO in Brief
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'Friends Of Environmental Services' Communication Discussed
SERVICES, NAMA, DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES AT KENYA MINI-MINISTERIAL The second WTO mini-ministerial meeting of 2005 is underway in Mombasa, Kenya this week as 30 trade ministers have gathered for informal talks from 3-6 February to move forward the Doha Round negotiations in the run-up to the December Ministerial Conference in…
- Events
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Events
EVENTS For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. If you would like to submit an event, please email us. Coming Up: 3 - 9 March 8-10 March, Hong Kong, China: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO COMBAT ILLEGAL LOGGING: INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE ON BEST PRACTICE FOR BUSINESS AND CIVIL SOCIETY. This…
- Resources
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Resources
THE WTO SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GATS AND ISSUES OF INTEREST FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. Trade-Related Agenda, Development and Equity (T.R.A.D.E.) Working Paper 23. South Centre, December 2004. This paper is intended to serve as an introductory guide to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) for least-developed countries (LDCs). It discusses…