Archive

October 10th, 2006

Report 2 of UNCTAD meetings: Supachai and Lamy give views on Doha suspension at TDB

9 October, 2006
The suspension of the World Trade Organisation's Doha negotiations should not lower the expectations for the development dimension of the Doha Round.

Report 7 of UNCTAD meetings: Supachai outlines reform measures at UNCTAD MTR meeting

9 October, 2006
A brief outline of how he intends to undertake some internal reforms in UNCTAD was given by its Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi at the policy dialogue of UNCTAD's Mid-Term Review on 4 October.

Report 3 on UNCTAD meetings: Doha talks should resume but on development basis

9 October, 2006
The World Trade Organisation's Doha negotiations should resume as soon as possible, and on the basis of the development mandate and principle so that the developing countries will really benefit, according to many developing countries individually or through their groupings.

Report 6 on UNCTAD meetings: Focus on Round's content, not just its completion, says Indian Minister Kamal Nath

9 October, 2006
Although there is a lot of talk about the need for completion of the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round, the content of the Round's outcome is just as important and there should be emphasis on this content instead as talk of a Development Round has been rhetorical so far, according to India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.

Report 4 on UNCTAD meetings: Lively UNCTAD debate on policy space, development strategy

9 October, 2006
An interesting debate took place at the Trade and Development Board (TDB) of UNCTAD on the question of "policy space", on the imbalances of existing multilateral rules in some areas and their absence in others, and the impact of this on developing countries' ability to formulate national development policies.

Report 5 on UNCTAD meetings: Global, national policy reform stressed in UNCTAD MTR report

9 October, 2006
Proposals for better United Nations system-wide coherence should start by addressing the need for coordinated economic global policy-making, which is lagging behind the problems caused by increasing interdependence.

Economists in plea to open up food markets

9 October, 2006
About 100 professional economists have called on rich countries to kick-start the stalled world trade talks by opening up their food markets.

October 6th

Schwab calls on services industry to increase trade lobbying efforts

5 October, 2006
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab this week told members of the services industry that they are leaving too much of the lobbying for approval of trade agreements to agriculture groups, which are taking on that effort to an extent that is disproportionate to the importance of agriculture for the U.S. economy.

The WTO: What Next??

5 October, 2006
Though the General Council of the WTO did not take a formal decision on the talks, there is a de facto suspension. But the GATT/WTO system has given surprises in the past and it is more than likely that the negotiations may start once again in full steam soon. The developing countries will be well advised not to be complacent with the suspension but to be prepared for an early resumption. The following article gives reasons for this anticipation and also gives some suggestions what the developing countries should do.

Schwab says US will not make new WTO offer unilaterally

5 October, 2006
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab this week said the U.S. would not offer another unilateral proposal in the WTO to reduce its domestic agricultural support, as requested by other members.