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The Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs announced on Tuesday (21 February) it will bring EU rules to curb salmon trade to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The importance of the 'public domain' in knowledge and the need to protect it from the incursion of private rights was a strong theme on the second day of the WIPO meeting on the Development Agenda initiative taking place here this week.

A long list of questions has been distributed by the Chairperson of the agriculture negotiations for members to use during the 'agriculture week' of negotiations being held at the WTO this week.

The friends of ambition in Doha market access negotiation for industrial products led by the United States and the European Union on Monday submitted a set of questions to negotiations chair Don Stephenson suggesting how to finalize modalities by the end of April, WTD has learned (WTD, 2/20/06).

The start of substantive discussion on the Development Agenda was delayed at a WIPO meeting on Monday due to wrangling over who would be the Chair.

Developing countries taking part in an UNCTAD meeting have reiterated that they are entitled to exercise flexibility when deciding on liberalisation commitments in the WTO's services agreement (GATS).

Developing countries are projected to suffer significant 'adjustment costs' as a result of reduction commitments in industrial tariffs under the Doha agenda. The costs, which will vary among different countries, include loss of output and jobs in some industrial sectors and loss of government revenue.

A DEAL on 'sensitive products' is one of the keys to unlocking progress in World Trade Organization talks on market access, Canada's lead agricultural negotiator Steve Verheul said recently.

Trade liberalization alone does not automatically lead to services growth and development in developing countries, and there is a need to establish necessary preconditions such as flanking policies and regulatory frameworks for liberalization to yield development-oriented results, according to a new UNCTAD paper.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) this week said the U.S. should drop partners in free trade agreement negotiations if talks on those agreements are not progressing.