WTO Says Conclusion of Doha Would Boost Global Economy

Director General of the WTO Pascal Lamy appealed to a meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee in Washington on April 12 to push for a conclusion to the Doha round as a way of ensuring global economic stablity. “This year I am completely convinced that we have it within our means, politically and technically, to finish the Doha round this year,” said Lamy. “To do so, the first step we need is for WTO Member governments to agree at Ministerial level by the end of May on the framework for cutting agricultural tariffs, agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.” Lamy said that the WTO played a critical role in absorbing the fallout from the Asian financial crisis ten years ago and that the completion of the Doha round would renew confidence in rule-based trade systems as a source of economic stability.

The original WTO press release is available here.

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WTO Director General Lamy Announces Aid-for-Trade Roadmap

The Director General of the WTO outlined the new roadmap for the Aid-for-Trade program at a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development on February 25.  The roadmap emphasizes three points: monitoring, implementation, and greater involvement of developing nations.

Improved monitoring of increased trade flows and the direct impact of projects would allow goals to be set and progress to be measured. The Director General has asked the OECD and World Bank to consider what indexes and performance indicators could assist in measurement of progress. Following the advice of the Regional Reviews, implementation of programs will be emphasized by creation of national and sub-regional Aid-for-Trade Reviews in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. The Reviews would have the goal of highlighting successful strategies and creating incentives for implementation of programs. Finally, the roadmap proposes that developing nations take a more active role in the administration of the program as a way of more effectively mobilizing domestic and international constituencies.
Director General Pascal Lamy’s speech is available here.

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Biofuels & Organic Food as Environmental Goods?

At the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session, Brazil and Peru proposed that biofuels and organic food products be considered environmental goods subject to tariff cuts or elimination in the Doha Round. The proposed interpretation stems from a desire for developing countries to leverage their competitive edge. Peru claims such classification would help combat poverty and drug trafficking in the Andean region. While many delegations supported the proposal, developed countries remain reserved about including agricultural products in trade-and-environment negotiations.

For the full story click here.

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UN Secretary-General Warns that Potential Doha Round Failure Will Seriously Harm Developing Countries

In a speech to the Seventh Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade, held in the Doha, Qatar, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the world’s poorest countries will slip further behind if the current round of international trade talks fail. Mr. Ban expressed his frustration at the slow pace of progress of the trade talks, and cautioned that unless the trade talks succeed, “serious damage will be done to those who can least afford it, to the multilateral trading system, and to multilateralism itself.

For more information, see here.

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U.S., Brazilian Industries Join Forces for Global Free Trade

U.S. and Brazilian manufacturers met in Sao Paulo on Thursday and Friday to form the Brazil-U.S. Industrial Dialogue, a private bilateral effort to promote liberal global trade policies. Representatives from the U.S. National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and Brazil’s Federation of Industries (FIESP) agreed to lobby their governments to resume the stalled WTO Doha Round talks, and hope to encourage private industries in Argentina, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, and South Africa to follow suit.

http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/vernoticia.do?id=10260&formato=HTML

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U.S. to File WTO Suit Against China

The Office of the United States Trade Representative today announced that, on Tuesday, it would file a case against China for deficiencies in its protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.  The U.S. also filed a second suit, seeking to eliminate distribution barriers for literary and audiovisual products.

The press release is here.

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President Bush Visits Latin America Amid Protests

President Bush is scheduled to meet today with his Brazilian counterpart, Lula da Silva, in Sao Paulo to discuss biofuel production and the stalled WTO Doha Round talks, among other issues. Brazil is the first stop on President Bush’s Latin American tour, which will also include Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. Major protest demonstrations have been organized for his arrival at each destination.

http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/vernoticia.do?id=10026&formato=HTML

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WTO Prescribes More of the Same for Growing Australian Economy

In its Trade Policy Review for Australia, TPRB/279, issued March 5, the WTO Secretariat noted that unilateral trade liberalization and increased transparency in economic policymaking were critical factors in the average 3.2% annual rate of Australian GDP growth over the last five years. The Secretariat report added that further macroeconomic reforms, particularly in Australian infrastructure, were critical to sustaining solid economic growth. For the full reports of the Secretariat and the Australian government, see here: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp279_e.htm.

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WTO: Salzburg Retreat on Advancing the Doha Agenda

From February 16th to the 20th, leading figures of government, business and civil society, from countries of all development levels, were brought together in Salzburg, Austria, in a retreat aimed at putting the Doha negotiations into a global perspective. The talks and presentations addressed the gains and costs of the negotiations, and the solutions available for solving current differences, which could bring the Doha round to its conclusion.

For further information, and access to the presentations, please click here.

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Norway Donates CHF2 Million to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund

On February 21, 2007, the Norwegian Government announced its CHF2 Million donation to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) for 2007, becoming the second biggest contributor to the Fund. This donation will finance technical assistance programmes and training activities for developing and least-developed countries.

For further information, please click here.

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