Articles

Global trade must serve the interests of sustainable development

Original Publication Date: 
2 December, 2009
Source: 
Trade Union Central of the Americas (TUCA)

Trade Unions in the Americas urge governments and trade negotiators gathered in Geneva to fulfill the commitments of the Global Jobs Pact
Victor Baez*

The trade union organizations affiliated to the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) have been closely following the Doha Round negotiations since they were reactivated in 2007. The trade union movement remains mobilized before the 7th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva.

Pronunciamiento de la ASC ante la nueva cumbre ministerial de la OMC

Original Publication Date: 
30 November, 2009
Source: 
Alianza Social Continental

Entre el 30 de noviembre y el 2 de diciembre de 2009 se realizará en Ginebra la VII reunión ministerial de la OMC. Será un nuevo esfuerzo de reanudar las negociaciones de la Ronda de Doha, iniciada hace 8 años, y un escenario donde los países desarrollados nuevamente intentarán imponer su propia agenda de liberalización y desregulación de los mercados.

MULTILATERALISM 2.0 – will trade ministers take up the challenge?

Original Publication Date: 
26 November, 2009
Source: 
IATP
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is getting ready for its 7th ministerial conference, to take place from November 30 to December 2, 2009 in Geneva. As trade ministers pack their suitcases, a few of them must be asking questions about the value of the trip. More than a year after the July 2008 mini-ministerial collapsed in acrimony, the Doha talks have not moved an inch – except to go backwards, according to some developing country representatives.

Letter from the Director General of the WTO, Mr. Pascal Lamy, to the 400 plus journalists accredited for the 7th Ministerial Conference.

Original Publication Date: 
30 November, 2009
Source: 
WTO

Welcome to the 7th WTO Ministerial Conference! This WTO Ministerial Conference will be a bit different from those many of you have attended in the past. Unlike previous Conferences this meeting will not be a Doha Round negotiating session, but rather a chance for Ministers to reflect on all elements of our work, exchange ideas and extend guidance on the best way forward in the years to come.

"Mini-Ministerial Meeting Should Change WTO Tack on Food"

Original Publication Date: 
3 September, 2009
Source: 
Inter Press Service News Agency
A group of 125 non-governmental organisations from 50 countries is calling on the governments participating in the mini-ministerial trade talks in India over the next two days to reject the further liberalisation of food and rather promote policies that will achieve food security and rural development and safeguard farmers’ livelihoods. The organisations, of which 13 are in Africa, argue in a letter to the 36 countries attending the mini-ministerial meeting that the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) policies have resulted in "a failed global agricultural system including extremely volatile commodities markets, a lack of global access to nutritious and affordable food, an increase in hunger, and the erosion of farmers’ incomes.

India Betrays Farmers and Workers by Endorsing WTO December Texts; Mini-Ministerial Results in More US Demands

Original Publication Date: 
4 September, 2009
The much hyped Delhi mini-ministerial ended today with most developing country delegates saying that it was business as usual with negotiations going back to Geneva and Chairs of the Negotiating Committees of the Doha Round. However, Indian Commerce Minister Sharma summarized the meeting by saying that both the G20 and the G33, "were of the view that the texts of December 2008 must form the basis of future work."

Rising tide of trade to sink Pacific

Despite the interest in the lead up to the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Cairns, the decision to commence trade negotiations barely made a mention in the news in the wake of the meeting.

UN: North's bailouts destroyed trading system's playing field, says Stiglitz

Original Publication Date: 
29 June, 2009
Source: 
SUNS #6729

New York, 26 Jun (Bhumika Muchhala) -- The bailouts given to companies in developed countries have destroyed the framework of the multilateral trading system for a level playing field, according to the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

 

Speaking at the UN conference on the global financial and economic crisis, Stiglitz said that the massive bailouts and stimulus programmes of the rich countries have "destroyed the framework for an international and multilateral global playing field for trade."

 

UN Economic Conference to receive agreed outcome draft text

Original Publication Date: 
25 June, 2009
Source: 
SUNS #6727

New York, 24 Jun (Meena Raman) -- The UN Conference on the "World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development" opens Wednesday morning with speeches by UN dignitaries and some political leaders that have gathered here to discuss ways and means to address the crisis.

However, the main event will be whether a Main Committee decides to adopt a draft outcome document that has been transmitted to it by diplomats who have been negotiating intensely in the past few months.

European Union urged to reconsider its role in Central America

Original Publication Date: 
1 July, 2009
Source: 
Friends of the Earth International

Versión española abajo.

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate release: Wednesday July 1, 2009

*****
EUROPEAN UNION URGED TO RECONSIDER ITS ROLE IN CENTRAL AMERICA
*****

Trade Act provides road map to new American trade model

Original Publication Date: 
29 June, 2009
Source: 
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
WOW - when's the last time 106 congressional Representatives - 9 full committee chairs and 40 subcommittee chairs included - were original cosponsors of any legislation, much less agreed on a new way forward on the contentious issue of trade?

Biggest emitters fail to show the way forward

Original Publication Date: 
10 June, 2009
Source: 
Financial Times

Kathrin Hille in Beijing and Edward Luce in Washington

China and the US failed to achieve a breakthrough at their latest round of
climate talks on Wednesday, raising the stakes in the global effort to fight
global climate change.

The two countries responsible for almost half of the world¹s greenhouse gas
emissions ended three days of negotiations in Beijing.

While there are still months to go until the December meeting in Copenhagen,
where 181 countries, led by the United Nations, plan to work out a new

Call to Indian Government: No WTO-Doha compromise

Original Publication Date: 
18 June, 2009
Source: 
Focus on the Global South
Date: 18 June, 2009 Dear Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh, As the newly formed UPA coalition government is just settling in to govern for the next five years, there is news that Commerce Minister Anand Sharma is already on his way to the United States (US) to bilaterally iron out differences to seal the trade deal that was launched during the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) 4th Ministerial Meeting in Doha. At stake in these trade negotiations are hundreds of millions of livelihoods in the farming and non-agriculture sectors that India has fought hard to preserve over the past eight years since the launch of the Doha Development Round.

US pressure on Indian Cabinet formation?

Original Publication Date: 
16 June, 2009
Source: 
Indian Express
There is a rather odd interview Anand Sharma has given to Reuters. He is off to Washington and the interview comes just before the visit. Part of the interview is about India being keen to break the deadlock in WTO negotiations.

TRIPS and FTAs have adverse impact on access to drugs

Original Publication Date: 
4 June, 2009
Source: 
SUNS #6712

TRIPS and FTAs have adverse impact on access to drugs

Geneva, 3 Jun (Kanaga Raja) -- The WTO TRIPS Agreement and the TRIPS-plus
provisions in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have had an adverse impact on
prices and availability of medicines, making it difficult for countries to
comply with their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to
health, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Mr Anand Grover,
said on Tuesday.

Canadians ask Federal Government to Halt Ratification of Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement in Light of Peruvian Police Massacre of Indigenous Protesters

Original Publication Date: 
10 June, 2009
Source: 
Council of Canadians
Non-governmental organizations are urgently asking Canadians to write to senators, MPs and the Prime Minister to express their outrage at the police massacre of peaceful Indigenous protesters in Peru, and to demand that the Canadian government halt its implementation of the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that is now before the Senate as Bill C-24.

New world trade deal by 2010 says WTO chief

Original Publication Date: 
9 June, 2009
Source: 
AAP Financial News
Eight torturous years of talks over a new global trade pact should reach a conclusion next year after changes in the US and Indian governments, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said on Tuesday.

India: House panel opposes foreign investment in retail

Original Publication Date: 
8 June, 2009
Source: 
The Wall Street Journal
New Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended a blanket ban on foreign investment in retail and has opposed even big domestic corporate entering the sector saying that it will lead to unemployment.

U.S. Civil Society Platform on Trade-Related IP and Access to Medicines Issues

Original Publication Date: 
8 June, 2009
Source: 
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
The following represents four key goals that our organizations agree should guide US trade policy and practice with regard to intellectual property (IP) and health matters.

Call for "global jobs pact" amidst rising job losses

Original Publication Date: 
3 June, 2009
Source: 
SUNS #6711
The International Labour Organization's ninety-eighth tripartite conference gets under way from 3-19 June amidst the latest ILO labour market projections showing a further increase in the number of unemployed, working poor and those in vulnerable employment