Archive - 2005

The latest set of proposals by the European Union at the World Trade Organisation which seeks to impose extreme levels of liberalisation on the developing countries is in stark contradiction to a recent speech made by the Trade Minister of the United Kingdom, which presently holds the Presidency of the European Union. This begs the question: Who really speaks for Europe?

Initial reactions to the European Union's 28 October proposal on agriculture have been mainly unfavourable, with some countries calling it disappointing and others finding it unacceptable, for various reasons.

A group of over sixty civil society organizations and trade unions in an open letter Tuesday to Pascal Lamy, in his capacity as WTO Director-General and Chair of the Trade Negotiations Committee, has slammed 'the highly undemocratic and deceptive process used to manufacture' the services section of the draft Ministerial Declaration for Hong Kong.

This is a newsletter which contains the summary of past and upcoming activities/events of the AMCB and it's partners and allied organizations and institutions in their countdown to the WTO MC6.

A letter from the G33 to the various Chair's of the negotiating groups, raising concerns that Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) is lacking in the negotiations and reaffirming the importance of an inclusive and transparent process in the negotiations.

Fourteen developing countries have issued a joint paper during the services negotiations at the WTO objecting to having any reference to 'targets' as an negotiating approach in the services text of the Ministerial Declaration for the forthcoming WTO conference in Hong Kong.

The European Union on Friday 28 October afternoon presented a new proposal on agriculture which also contains its demands on other areas, especially services and non agricultural market access.

Korean movements have designated 13th to 19th November to be a week of action against APEC, with a people

The latest maneuvers in the WTO vis a vis the GATS to torpedo its more development friendly elements is extremely worrying. This is an article on how this has been orchestrated, the opposition from developing countries, and the implications of the draft Ministerial text (26 October) for developing countries which the Chair has released.

Saudi Arabia was given a green light on Friday to join the World Trade Organization, in time to participate in December's crucial ministerial summit in Hong Kong