Archive - Oct 2005 - Article

People’s Action will be sending out a biweekly English newsletter to share news about anti-globalization struggles in Korea and updates on preparation of the ‘Korean People’s Struggle Delegation’.

Many developing countries continued to raise objections to the inclusion of 'numerical targets and indicators' as a negotiating approach in a revised text on services for the Ministerial Declaration for the WTO's Hong Kong conference.

The Group of 20 developing countries has presented six new proposals for the WTO agriculture negotiations. The papers were distributed at two informal meetings on agriculture held at the WTO on 21 October.

The Chair of the WTO agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Crawford Falconer of New Zealand, has warned members that 'material convergence', particularly on market access, was needed by 31 October, otherwise he would have to report that objectives for the Hong Kong Ministerial cannot be met.

Further troubles for Brussels' negotiating position in worldwide trade liberalisation talks emerged on Tuesday (25 October), as 11 member states reaffirmed their opposition against a commission-proposed sugar reform.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of countries in the WTO on Friday 21 October submitted a proposal on market access inagriculture, with its own set of thresholds in the tariff reduction formula for developed and developing countries, and with suggested tariff reduction rates for developing countries.

Links to several G20 papers on elements of the agriculture negotiations plus a proposal by Australia on Sensitive Products

Perceived slights and misunderstandings are normal features of the United States' relationship with Canada. But Canadians and outside experts say Ottawa's view of Washington now is as strained and combative as anyone can remember.

A meeting of world trade ministers to hammer out a new global pact is in jeopardy unless Europe offers big cuts to its farm tariffs, the United States warned on Monday, and the EU itself admitted talks were on a 'knife-edge.'

There seemed to be a noticeable d