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A recent report detailing 36 cases of bio-piracy in Africa has been creating ripples at international meetings negotiating a fair deal for developing countries to benefit from their genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

Below are the links for the services documents

Prospects of a new trade deal to end rich countries' farm subsidies and open up poor nations' markets were left hanging in the balance yesterday after a meeting of the world's top economic powers ended without a breakthrough.

Trade chiefs of the United States, the European Union, Brazil, India, Australia and Japan made scant progress in narrowing differences over the core elements for Doha Development Agenda agriculture and industrials packages on Saturday an outcome that placed the conclusion of negotiating modalities by the end of next month in jeopardy (WTD, 3/10/06).

The links below are the recent WTO documents.

Trade chiefs of the United States, the European Union, Brazil, India, Australia and Japan are planning a busy two days today and Saturday in an effort to reach some accommodations on the most difficult issues in three central areas of the Doha Development Agenda whose outcome could indicate whether full modalities in the agriculture and industrials negotiations can be wrapped up by the end of next month, WTD was told (WTD, 3/9/06).

Basic problems and practical difficulties in the attempt by WIPO members to globally harmonise patent laws were highlighted on the second day of the WIPO open forum on its draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) on 2 March.

Several speakers at the opening day of the WIPO open forum on its draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) warned about the dangers of the global harmonization of patent laws that the SPLT is aiming at.

The final day of the WIPO open forum on patents saw heated exchanges on the impact of patents and 'flexibilities' of the system on access to medicines, as well as an interesting debate on whether genes and life forms should be patented.

The Negotiating Group on Market Access for Non- Agricultural Products (NAMA) at a week-long meeting (ending Friday, 3 March), discussed sectoral initiatives, flexibilities for developing countries and paragraph 24 of the Hong Kong Declaration that calls for a comparably high level of ambition in market access for agriculture and NAMA.