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 neo-liberal transformation of global economy has brought in a new trade regime replacing GATT 1947 with incorporation of services and intellectual property in the products to be exchanged and WTO as its powerful regulator. Health being one of the services has become tradable for the first time. India has …
Sri Lanka Tea Board ceremonially launched the new logo for Ozone-Friendly Ceylon Tea together and Agro-climatic regional names/logos as Certification Marks under Geographical Indication, to protect and add value to premium Ceylon Tea. Worldwide demand and popularity of Ceylon Tea has made it a global brand. The country has allocated …
A report by top international food security experts urges the Group of 20 leading economies to tackle food price volatility by reforming biofuel policies, curbing the use of agricultural export restrictions, and rebuilding emergency food reserves.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that BRICS nations should combine their potential strengths to continue enhancing coordination on major issues of common concern. BRICS countries
The government has decided to retain the flexibility it has in issuing compulsory licences for patented drugs in case of public health emergency and not issue specific guidelines on when it can act.
Geneva: Global trade is projected to grow by a modest 6.5% this year as uncertainties continue to persist in major economies like Japan, WTO economists said. For 2011, the economists are forecasting
The information in patent documents and applications can play an important role in improving access to medicines, said experts at a symposium on “Access to Medicines, Patent Information and Freedom to Operate” in Geneva last month.
This draft report from leading international agencies FAO, IFAD, OECD, WFP, World Bank and others urged G-20 governments “immediately to strengthen” global rules on agricultural import and export restrictions as well as subsidies that distort production, discourage supply or constrain international trade. A confidential draft report from leading international agencies …
Most readers might find it difficult to credit what follows. This is a story of how bilateral and multilateral investment treaties are being used to satisfy corporate greed, how large corporations, even those in the unsavoury business of selling cigarettes, can sue countries for passing public health laws intended to …
Doha Round proposals for expedited liberalisation for trade in environmental goods risk destroying infant green technology industries in developing countries without benefiting the environment, Brazil’s ambassador to the WTO argued last week.
Indian intransigence at WTO negotiations irked New Zealand to the extent that it became a trenchant critic of the Indo-US nuclear deal, suggests a WikiLeaks cable. The international whistleblower has documents from the US embassy in New Zealand suggesting that quite apart from the country’s non-proliferation concerns, disarmament minister Phil …
High and volatile prices for key commodities, including food products, could spark unrest in poor countries, warned the heads of the WTO and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
INDIA HAS cited environmental concerns and protection of domestic manufacturing units on the issue of opening up market for re-manufactured goods under the Doha trade talks ENVIRONMENTAL concerns and protection of its domestic manufacturing units are two of the many reasons India has cited in a detailed note recently submitted …
This is set to become a landmark case for the Indian pharmaceutical industry—and for patients. When Natco Pharma of Hyderabad wrote to Pfizer, the world’s largest drugs manufacturer, that it wanted a voluntary licence (VL) to make a low-cost version of its antiretroviral drug maraviroc, it was setting the stage …
AFTER scuttling talks on transfer of technology in the recently concluded climate change conference in Cancun, the US now wants China to stop its clean energy programme. The US, on December 22, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) that China is unfairly helping its domestic wind power …
Troubling news reports indicate that a newly-minted Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and India would permit companies to circumvent visionary safeguards built into India
Files complaint in WTO; says China unfairly helping equipment makers. After scuttling talks on transfer of technology in the recently concluded climate change conference in Cancun, the US now wants China to stop its clean energy programme. The US, on December 22, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization …
Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing mankind today and sustainable development an increasingly bigger challenge. The Author, who hails from the administrative services, has acquired considerable experience in the commerce and education sectors. In this paper, he highlights that sustainable living has been a way of life …
As governments increasingly adopt policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, concern has grown on two fronts. First, carbon leakage can occur when mitigation policies are not the same across countries and producers seek to locate in jurisdictions where production costs are least affected by emission constraints. The risk of carbon …
