Issue No. 579, 16-31 Oct 2014
WTO membership still far apart on trade facilitation, food security

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Still no solution on TFA/food security, consultations to continue
A resolution of the deadlock over trade facilitation and public food stocks continues to elude WTO member states.
by Kanaga Raja

Need for rights-based approach to food security
In her first report to the UN General Assembly, the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food has underscored the importance of a rights-based approach to food security and outlined some of her priority areas of focus.
by Kanaga Raja

Stringent plant variety protection may impinge on right to food
The international UPOV 91 intellectual property standards for plant varieties impose tight restrictions on seed use, exchange and sale which could adversely affect the right to food of small farmers in developing countries, according to a new study.
by Kanaga Raja

Bretton Woods institutions’ birthday party turns sour
The recent International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank annual meetings, which also marked the 70th anniversary of both organizations, saw the multilateral lenders having to grapple with both internal institutional and external economic challenges.
by Bodo Ellmers, Jeroen Kwakkenbos and Maria Romero

Tobacco, health and trade rules
Malaysia is taking the lead on two fronts to prevent the use of trade and investment agreements to block anti-smoking measures, but will these initiatives succeed?
by Martin Khor

Put people, not “empire of capital”, at heart of development
In a recent lecture at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa made the case for a development founded on “people-oriented” instead of “capital-dominated” policies.
by Ravi Kanth Devarakonda