7th Ministerial, Geneva 2009

WTO Geneva Summit Prefaced by Riot

28 November, 2009

Cars Burned, Windows Broken in Protest of World Trade Meeting; Police Respond With Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets; 14 ArrestedCBS/AP)  Police with water cannon fired tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday to separate violent demonstrators from a protest opposing a meeting of top world trade officials, but the hooded "black bloc" activists were able to cause damage before 14 were arrested, spokesmen said.

Senior Chinese Official Criticizes U.S. bilaterals on Doha, Sees No Room to Meet

27 November, 2009
Geneva -- A senior Chinese official has strongly criticized as ineffective and counterproductive to the multilateral Doha round negotiations a U.S. effort to extract more market access concessions from key countries in bilateral meetings.

MULTILATERALISM 2.0 – will trade ministers take up the challenge?

26 November, 2009
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is getting ready for its 7th ministerial conference, to take place from November 30 to December 2, 2009 in Geneva. As trade ministers pack their suitcases, a few of them must be asking questions about the value of the trip. More than a year after the July 2008 mini-ministerial collapsed in acrimony, the Doha talks have not moved an inch – except to go backwards, according to some developing country representatives.

South Centre’s Papers on the WTO for the Seventh

26 November, 2009
The South Centre is pleased to announce the publication of the following documents for the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference.

Action Press Release: The European Union Must Stop False Solutions to Climate Change

25 November, 2009
Eleven days before the fifteenth Conference of the Parties under the United Nations’ Climate Change Convention that will be held in Copenhagen between the 7th and the 18th of December, an issue which remains controversial is the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union and the Indonesian government, designed to support trade liberalisation between the two region as well as increase cooperation in the mitigation of climate change, in part through the provision of 550 million Euros of funding.

Inside U.S. trade - Finance Fails To Vote On USTR Punke, Siddiqui Nominations

25 November, 2009
The Senate Finance Committee did not vote on the nominations of Michael Punke to be Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and Islam Siddiqui to be chief agriculture negotiator at USTR on Saturday, November 21.

Time to kill off Doha, Pascal Lamy is wrong: the Doha round of talks offers nothing to the world's poorest countries. The WTO has failed to deliver

25 November, 2009

Monday 30 November marks the 10th anniversary of the Battle in Seattle, the day in 1999 when 100,000 protesters took to the streets and prevented the World Trade Organisation from launching its millennium round of free trade talks. The WTO is marking the occasion with another ministerial summit, and is understandably nervous – not because it fears another spectacular uprising (the summit is being held in genteel Geneva) but because the future of the WTO as a credible institution once again hangs in the balance.

India Betrays Farmers and Workers by Endorsing WTO December Texts; Mini-Ministerial Results in More US Demands

4 September, 2009
The much hyped Delhi mini-ministerial ended today with most developing country delegates saying that it was business as usual with negotiations going back to Geneva and Chairs of the Negotiating Committees of the Doha Round. However, Indian Commerce Minister Sharma summarized the meeting by saying that both the G20 and the G33, "were of the view that the texts of December 2008 must form the basis of future work."

"Mini-Ministerial Meeting Should Change WTO Tack on Food"

3 September, 2009
A group of 125 non-governmental organisations from 50 countries is calling on the governments participating in the mini-ministerial trade talks in India over the next two days to reject the further liberalisation of food and rather promote policies that will achieve food security and rural development and safeguard farmers’ livelihoods. The organisations, of which 13 are in Africa, argue in a letter to the 36 countries attending the mini-ministerial meeting that the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) policies have resulted in "a failed global agricultural system including extremely volatile commodities markets, a lack of global access to nutritious and affordable food, an increase in hunger, and the erosion of farmers’ incomes.

Derailing Doha and the pathway to a new paradigm: How WTO’s collapse clears the way to solve today’s food, fuel, and financial

30 July, 2009
As experts dissect the collapse of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha round of global trade talks to explain its causes and effects, many are missing how it signals a shift in the sensibilities of people everywhere to end of the era of global free trade and renew government’s rightful role in regulating commerce, especially in the critical areas of fuel, food, and finance.

US pressure on Indian Cabinet formation?

16 June, 2009
There is a rather odd interview Anand Sharma has given to Reuters. He is off to Washington and the interview comes just before the visit. Part of the interview is about India being keen to break the deadlock in WTO negotiations.

New world trade deal by 2010 says WTO chief

9 June, 2009
Eight torturous years of talks over a new global trade pact should reach a conclusion next year after changes in the US and Indian governments, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said on Tuesday.

India committed to successful conclusion of Doha process: Anand Sharma

8 June, 2009
In his special address to the Cairns group, in Bali today, Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry has reiterated the Indian commitment to the successful conclusion of the Doha process through a constructive engagement.

India, US to talk WTO deadlock

3 June, 2009
India and the US will hold bilateral talks soon in an attempt to narrow their differences on the ongoing Doha round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

WTO to attend Cairns Group

1 June, 2009
WTO chief Pascal Lamy (left) will attend a meeting in Bali next week as part of attempts to restart global trade talks