The report forecasts global economic growth to 2.6% in 2024, barely above the 2.5% threshold commonly associated with a recessionary phase. The report says the prevailing focus on inflation overshadows urgent issues like trade disruptions, climate change and rising inequalities. It advocates for structural reforms and coordinated global efforts, proposing …
What kind of ripples were let loose by the breakdown of talks? Celso Amorim, Brazil's minister of external relations and leader of the G-22 group, felt that the lack of engagement (of developing nations) in the Singapore issues, which mirrored the lack of engagement (of the developed world) on agriculture, …
There are worry lines all over the face of M K Bhojan, a small tea grower in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. Tea prices have fallen cataclysmically in the last few years, affecting small farmers like Bhojan most acutely. In 1997-98, one kilogramme (kg) of green tea leaf fetched …
Conservation groups are up in arms against a move to resume trade in Caspian Sea caviar. In 2001, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (cites) had placed a moratorium on caviar trade by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. Iran, though not subject to the ban, had also joined …
The proposed deal in Cancun had to be rejected. What was proposed at the World Trade Organization talks would have been a deadly price for developing countries to pay. Therefore, for once, our leaders did well. They were prepared to negotiate together. They held together in the face of the …
the doors of the World Trade Organization (wto) have been thrown open for Nepal. But not before the country staved off immense pressure from the North to join the International Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants (upov). The upov is a global agreement that essentially protects the rights …
Conflict diamonds (precious stones used to finance clashes aimed at undermining legitimate governments) may soon go out of business. Belgian scientists have devised a method to ascertain the mine from which each diamond is sourced. The development comes as a shot in the arm for those campaigning against illegal trade …
In November 1999 during the World Trade Organization ministerial conference in Seattle I led the delegation from the United Kingdom. I was convinced the expansion of world trade could bring major benefits to developing countries and would be a key to tackle world poverty. For this, developing countries needed to …
The Doha Ministerial Declaration, in paragraph 31(i), mandates negotiations on the relationship between existing wto rules and specific trade obligations (stos) set out in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (meas) that aim to make trade and environment more mutually supportive. How can this mandate be approached from a developing country perspective? First, …
negotiations on the crucial issue of agriculture intensified in the build-up to the Fifth World Trade Organization (wto) Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico, with several developing countries joining hands to take on the formidable eu-us combine. The latter presented a joint paper on August 13 at the wto general council …
RECENTLY Arun Jaitley identified agriculture and investment as the two main issues for next month's World Trade Organization ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico. (Jaitley is India's union minister of commerce and industry, and head of the Indian delegation to Cancun.) He isn't off target. The US, the world's largest agricultural …
on august 1, 2003, Madhya Pradesh (mp) made a plea in the Supreme Court (sc) seeking a fund-generating mechanism for forest protection. Earlier, in June, Himachal Pradesh (hp) and Arunachal Pradesh (ap) asked the Union government to provide them annual reimbursement amounting to Rs 200 crore and Rs 250 crore, …
indian exporters of chilli products are smarting. The eu has all but shut the door on them after recently detecting the presence of Sudan red 1, a carcinogenic industrial dye, in one of their consignments to France. And the Spices Board of India has cracked the whip on the three …
India has lost in the initial stage of the textile trade battle with the US. A dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) decreed on June 20 that US laws on "rules of origin' for textile products were consistent with WTO agreements. India had challenged the US over …
Not narcotics. Not gold. But sea cucumbers. In the past six months, five major seizures of consignments of this marine life form have taken place in India
going in to bat for the indigenous industry, the Jammu and Kashmir (j&k;) government has decided to ban the export of willow cleft outside the state. The much-awaited move is set to put local manufacturers of cricket bats on a strong wicket. Over the years, the local manufacturers had lost …
Economists C P Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh call this phenomenon the “calorie consumption puzzle”. Delving into the data released by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSS) on nutritional intake in India
