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 …
The Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, on Sunday said the interim government had breached food security at the prescriptions of the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank. This has increased rice prices although there is no supply shortage of rice, he said as he addressed …
World trade growth could ease to 4.5 per cent in 2008 as a sharp economic slowdown in developed countries will only be partly offset by strong gains in emerging economies, the WTO said Thursday. But if turmoil on the financial markets continues and developed economies see a more pronounced slowdown, …
Soaring food prices have surfaced as a big concern in the delicately poised agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But because any WTO deal will have an impact only in the long term, the Geneva talks will not offer a solution to the immediate crisis, diplomats and officials …
EARLIER this week, junior food minister Akhilesh Prasad Singh, during a TV discussion on soaring food prices, maintained that India had rice and wheat stocks above the April buffer norm and that FAO chief Yumkella's global food crisis assessment had relevance only to Africa. Wake up and smell the coffee, …
TALKS to further liberalise the world market for agriculture, industrial goods and services may be entering its last lap at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trade ministers from most WTO member countries, including India, are expected to converge in Geneva next month to thrash out and finalise the modalities for …
Following a one-day meeting in Tokyo, the business federation chiefs issued a joint statement urging the G8 nations to come up with measures that will encourage developing countries to participate in the framework to succeed Kyoto. "We hope there will be a forward-looking agreement on such points," said Fujio Mitarai, …
World trade growth declined sharply in 2007 and is expected to slow further this year as financial turmoil and rising commodity prices further depress global economic activity, the World Trade Organisation said yesterday. Preliminary estimates suggest the volume of world trade rose 5.5 per cent in 2007, down from a …
The Doha round of global trade negotiations has been stalled since 2001 because developing nations have refused to lower import tariffs that protect their farmers and rich countries won't give up farm-price supports. Now, import duties are being slashed from Brazil to Burkina Faso in response to prices that the …
By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev, Neil Buckley in Moscow and,Frances Williams in Geneva Ukraine is likely to be in a position to block Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation later this year, giving it significant leverage that it could use in natural gas supply talks or in retaliation …
on april 23, the Delhi High Court will hear a case that is being dubbed as a "conflict between commercial interests and public health'. There are two main players: the Central Information Commission (cic) and the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Corporation Company (mahyco). Fearing that its data on field trials of …
Hopes Rise Global Trade Deal Can Avert Fish Crisis SWITZERLAND: April 11, 2008 GENEVA - Negotiations on fisheries rules within a global trade deal have reached broad agreement that certain subsidies promoting overfishing should be banned, the chairman of the talks said on Thursday. And progress in the talks, part …
One of the most bitter transatlantic trade disputes of the past decade inched towards resolution on Wednesday, when the European Union announced it had complied with a 1999 World Trade Organisation ruling against its ban on beef hormones. Though Brussels refused to lift the ban, trade officials insisted that the …
Sops to developing countries could break the Doha deadlock. IT's another attempt to evolve a JL consensus between the rich and the poor nations at the wto on the thorny issues of cutting agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs. Ambassador Crawford Falconer, Chairperson of the Agriculture Negotiation, and Non-Agricultural Market Access …
South Asia being an energy-deficit region, there is a strong case for developing regional cooperation in this sector. This may take different forms. India has surplus petroleum refining capacity while other countries in the region are importers of petroleum products. The real benefits will accrue from cooperation in power generation.
For a decade Europe has rebuffed efforts by biotechnology firms such as America's Monsanto to promote genetically modified crops. Despite scientific assurances that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are safe for human consumption, and a ruling by the World Trade Organisation against national import bans in the European Union, many Europeans …
on january 11, France decided to extend its October 2007 ban on a variety of gm maize. It decided to activate a European Union guideline that prohibits the cultivation of gm corn. The variety, Mon 810, developed by food multinational Monsanto, is the only gm crop that France is growing. …
Although the draft text on fisheries subsidies released in November is on the whole a remarkable synthesis, certain points would benefit from further clarification, in particular to avoid unnecessary litigation in the future. Feb 2008
The Doha Round negotiations, formally named the Doha Development Agenda, continue to founder. While agriculture negotiations have dominated public discussion, the critical obstacle to conclusion of the round is the failure of negotiations so far to deliver on developing country needs. Feb 2008
