Archive - Mar 2006 - Article

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.

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.

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.

Below are links to two letters from different U.S. textile industry groups. The first one calls for a sectoral on textiles that would provide special treatment for the textile sector by resurrecting protection in the textile and apparel sectors.

US Trade Representative Rob Portman and visiting Australian Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile agreed yesterday that Saturday's Group-of-Six ministerial meeting in London will be crucial to the timely outcome of the Doha Development Agenda (WTD, 3/7/06).

Doha Development Agenda nonagricultural market access negotiations chairman Don Stephenson yesterday said members have only a 'small window' for reaching agreement by the end of April on what he called core elements of an agreement a formula, treatment of unbound tariffs and 'paragraph eight' flexibilities for developing countries.

Senior trade officials of an 11 country group yesterday failed to narrow their differences on how to achieve 'ambitious' market access opportunities in the Doha Development Agenda industrials negotiations a result that could place this weekend's London trade ministerial summit in jeopardy, WTD was told.

WTO members remain sharply divided on the industrial tariff negotiations, as the NAMA consultations stretched late into Wednesday 1 March evening. One of the main areas of contention appears to be over the special and differential treatment (S&D) to be accorded to developing countries, as stipulated in paragraph 8 of Annex B to the July 2004 Framework.

Negotiations on non agricultural market access (NAMA) will be taking place all this week at the WTO. Among the topics scheduled for discussion are flexibilities for developing countries, the link between agriculture and NAMA negotiations, non-tariff barriers and sectoral initiatives.

The chairman of the World Trade Organization's negotiating group on non-agricultural market access (NAMA) warned March 7 that the window of opportunity was rapidly closing for a deal in the sector which would allow the Doha Round to be completed by the end of 2006.