This report identifies options that negotiators and policy-makers could pursue in order to reach a permanent solution at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to the problems some developing countries say they face when buying food at government-set (or government-administered) prices under their public stockholding programs for food security purposes. The …
Trade can have an important role to play in the mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) - are among those that have touched on this issue …
New Delhi: Acting tough on the unilateral carbon tax proposed by the European Union for airlines operating to and from the region, India has barred its airlines from submitting any emission data to EU. Without the data, EU will not be able to levy the controversial tax on Indian carriers …
India has told the US that it does not intend to alter the domestic content requirement in its ambitious national solar power generation programme as it is essentially procurement by the government, which is outside the purview of the World Trade Organisation. “India is not a signatory to the Government …
Even as the Obama administration works overtime to wind down two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, it could well be on the brink of opening up a new battle front — an economic slugfest with China. This week the U.S. Commerce Department announced, after months of hand-wringing and suspense, that …
The government today asserted India would invoke the flexibility it had under the WTO agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) for compulsory licensing of patented drugs to ensure availability of life saving drugs at affordable prices to its people. The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks had …
The United States, Japan and European Union plan to bring a new trade case against China over its export restrictions on rare earth minerals used in a variety of high-tech and clean energy products, senior administration officials said on Monday. They were responding to a published report by the Associated …
Cancer-treatment drug Nexavar will soon be available at Rs. 8,880 per pack of 120 tablets. Bayer, a German multi-national, holds the patent for Nexavar (the brand name of sorafenib tosylate), which now sells at Rs.2.84 lakh. The way for such a huge reduction in the price is cleared with India …
An Australian law intended to make the packaging of cigarettes less appealing to consumers again came under fire at the WTO last week, with developing country tobacco producers arguing that the measure could curtail competitiveness in the tobacco market and is inconsistent with multilateral trade rules.
Washington announced yesterday that it has initiated consultations with New Delhi at the WTO over India's prohibition on imports of US poultry, chicken eggs, and other agricultural products - the first stage in the global trade body's dispute settlement process.
Canada heaves sigh of relief. The European Union’s plan to rank oil extracted from tar sands as highly polluting hit a roadblock as its fuel quality directive committee (a group of experts) could not reach a unanimous decision in the voting held on February 23. The oil extracted from tar …
This background document presents a full overview of the measures and actions that address the international dimension of agricultural policy. These include a wide variety of activities, which show how the EU is promoting and defending the EU agriculture sector in a changing world environment and contributing to sustainable economic …
A bid by the Philippines to extend special treatment on rice imports at the WTO is being blocked by the US over health and safety standards for frozen meat, the Filipino agriculture minister claimed last Thursday. The two sides met today in the Philippines in an attempt to resolve the …
Striking against rising global protectionism, India has dragged both Turkey and Egypt to the World Trade Organisation for imposing special import duties on Indian cotton yarn, lowering competitiveness in these markets. New Delhi has been criticising Turkey for violating WTO norms at several forums of the WTO for the past …
Twenty-six countries, including India, are meeting in Moscow tomorrow to discuss the EU’s unilateral action to control greenhouse gas emissions from aeroplanes flying over European airspace. Under the scheme that came into effect in January 2012, airlines flying to the EU will have to buy tradable carbon credits as part …
Preparations for the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development have begun, but the first round of preparatory meetings did not address important issues such as sustainable resource use, production and consumption.
Geneva: The EU-India FTA could be disastrous for the farm sector in India, if the demands of the EU negotiators would be accepted, according to a joint study by NGOs Misereror, Glopolis, the Heinrich Boll foundation and the Third World Network (TWN). The report pionts out that it would violate …
India is readying to defend its policy requiring companies to source local content for the national solar mission project, a rule that has triggered protests from the US and the EU. The commerce department is talking to the ministry of new and renewable energy on how to argue its case …
NEW DELHI: The government is ready with a plan to act against countries that provide subsidy to local producers and make exports more competitive. Although anti-subsidy action is a trade defence measure, permitted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the move is expected to hit China the most. Commerce department …
The background note, in the form if a draft decision, circulated on 10 January 2012, suggests a new framework for international cooperation on the use of natural resources at the global level. Of the three dimensions of sustainable development, the focus was on the environment in the period 1992 -2011, …
The eighth ministerial of the World Trade Organisation was on the surface an inconsequential meeting of an organisation fighting a descent into irrelevance. But there were attempts by the powerful economies to craft a plurilateral approach that would keep out the majority of WTO member countries.
