Archive - Oct 2005 - Article

Brazil's external relations minister and chief trade negotiator Celso Amorim yesterday warned against creating a 'smokescreen' in the Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations

Chief trade ministers of the 'Five Interested Parties' the United States, the European Union, Australia, Brazil and India yesterday failed to 'break the ice' in the difficult market access area of the ongoing Doha Development Agenda agricultural trade negotiations

The European Commission called for the EU to set up a half-billion-euro globalisation 'shock absorber' fund to cushion the impact of painful restructuring efforts in Europe.

European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said he was ready to show more flexibility over farm trade when he meets other top-level negotiators from around the world on Wednesday.

On 11 October 2005, the European Parliament's International Trade Committeeheld a public hearing on the WTO in its preparation for the WTO's HongkongMinisterial conference in December. The Third World Network's Director, Martin Khor, was invited to make apresentation as one of six experts at the hearing. He made a statement in thesession on NAMA (non agricultural market access).

The controversy over proposals to introduce new 'benchmarking' or complementary approaches aimed at getting developing countries to accelerate their liberalisation commitments in services at the WTO is expected to re-ignite in the week starting on 17 October.

The delegation noted that the WTO negotiations were again being conducted without any transparency and were excluding from the different meetings those countries that are least rich and that have most demands to make in terms of their rights to development.

Hong Kong's WTO chief, who is organising a key ministerial trade summit here, was under fire for what critics say was his poor handling of a small protest by anti-globalisation activists.

Link to EC's model schedule proposal