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In an attempt to break the deadlock in the Doha Development Agenda negotiations on reaching full modalities by the end of June, Malaysian trade minister Rafidah Aziz yesterday offered a 'blueprint' that calls for accepting the Group-of-20 proposal as a 'basis to move negotiations forward' on the thresholds and cuts for tariff reduction, tariff reduction numbers and spending caps in the farm market access pillar (see related report this issue).

We, the delegates from organizations, networks, social movements, NGOs, women

The European Union plans to convene a stocktaking meeting of select trade ministers on the Doha Development Agenda services negotiations in an effort to better link the outcomes of the modalities negotiations in agriculture and nonagricultural market access with the important services sector, WTD has learned (WTD, 5/30/06).

The Ministers of Health of ten South American countries have issued ajoint declaration on intellectual property committing themselves toavoid 'TRIPS plus' provisions in bilateral and regional trade agreements, to facilitate the use of compulsory licensing and parallel importing and to avoid broadening the scope of patentability and the extension of patentable areas.

After a negotiating process that lasted many days and that was closely watched by dozens of health and development NGOs, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on 27 May that established a working group to come up with a global strategy on intellectual property, health research and development, and new medicines for diseases that especially affect developing countries.

The latest is a revised paper on the Green Box, circulated on 30 May.

A ministerial meeting will be convened from June 29 to decide prospects for reaching full modalities in the Doha Development Agenda agriculture and nonagricultural market access negotiations by the end of July, WTD was told (WTD, 5/29/05.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy on Tuesday set an end-June goal for a tariff- and subsidy-slashing deal in farm and industrial goods, saying hopes for a global trade pact this year rode on the outcome.

JALLOWAL, India Within days, the monsoon will arrive in India. If generous, it will lend another year of survival to hundreds of millions of villagers. If miserly, crops will wither and bankruptcy will run virally through the villages.

The European Union outlined to the United States on Tuesday how it might improve its agricultural offer in a long-delayed global trade round and said the next move must be Washington's, an EU official said.