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The WIPO meeting on a Development Agenda was moving slowly towards how to categorise the many proposals presented by members, so that further discussion can be held on how to treat these proposals.

The WIPO meeting on a Development Agenda ended on 24 February evening with an agreement that the next session would discuss six major themes with a total of 111 proposals that have been identified for a Development Agenda for WIPO.

Several collective requests were made on 28 February to selected countries to take part in plurilateral sectoral meetings under the WTO's services negotiations. More requests are expected to be made in the next few days.

The plurilateral services negotiations that were launched at the WTO on 28 February by the major developed countries (joined by a handful of developing members) are clearly aimed at creating a new negotiating method to more effectively pressurize some emerging developing economies to open up many of their key services sectors to competition from the large multinational service enterprises.

Trade envoys from some major countries yesterday demanded the circulation of simulation exercise results based on the different tariff-reduction proposals in Doha Development Agenda market access negotiations for farm products and industrials, WTD has learned.

Sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development

Doha Development Agenda market access for industrials Chairman Don Stephenson on Friday issued a detailed work program to accelerate talks on the most difficult issues a formula for cutting tariffs, the treatment of unbound tariffs and flexibilities for developing countries (see related report this issue).

The US has been asked by several trading partners to open up its port services to international competition, a longstanding request given more significance by the dispute over the takeover of P&O by Dubai Ports World.

The Bush administration is working with members of Congress to find a way of meeting India's politically difficult demand in world trade talks that the United States open its market to more temporary workers

Links to eight plurilateral requests for services liberalisation that have been submitted in the WTO. These include: energy, environmental services, telecommunications, financial services, architectural and engineering, construction, maritime transport, and computer related services.