Issue
No. 594 (1-15 Jun 2015)
Push
to advance Doha Round arouses concern
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Concern
among developing countries on DG consultations in WTO
The
WTO Director-General held closed-door meetings in May with a select
group of trade envoys in which only market access issues were said
to have been broached. This has raised apprehension that the contentious
question of farm subsidies which harm developing-country agriculture
is being sidelined in a bid to conclude the Doha Round trade talks
by year’s end.
by
Chakravarthi Raghavan
Transparency
by others, secrecy for WTO
The
revelations about Roberto Azevedo’s consultations with seven member
state delegations have reportedly upset the WTO chief, writes D.
Ravi Kanth.
US
call to drop SSM rebuffed by South envoys
Many
developing countries have rejected a US call to drop the proposed
agricultural special safeguard mechanism from the Doha Round agenda,
insisting that the SSM is needed as protection against excessive volatility
in farm trade.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
South
nixes US, EU call for binding autonomous services liberalization
Developing
countries have opposed developed-country calls to set their autonomously
taken services liberalization measures as binding WTO commitments.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
Informal
mini-ministerial for Paris in June
An
informal meeting of some 30 trade ministers to take place in June
will likely see a renewed push for the Doha Round “recalibration”
promoted by the WTO Director-General and major developed countries.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
CSOs
urge support for LDC request on pharmaceuticals exemption
Development
advocates have backed a request to continue exempting the world’s
poorest countries from subjecting pharmaceutical products to WTO intellectual
property rules.
by
Kanaga Raja
CSOs
voice concerns over corporate takeover of WHO
Civil
society groups have sounded a warning against undue corporate influence
on the work of the World Health Organization.
by
Kanaga Raja
UNCTAD
releases Roadmap and Guide for debt workouts
In
light of the crippling effects of sovereign debt crises, UN development
agency UNCTAD has come up with recommendations on how countries can
better navigate the debt restructuring process.
by
Bodo Ellmers
Opinion:
Finance, like a cancer, grows
Roberto
Savio trains the spotlight on the dangerous “new ethic” of the
financial sector.
