Issue No. 598/599, 1-31 August 2015
Divided WTO membership miss Doha Round deadline

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No progress on delivering DDA work plan, report DG and chairs
WTO member states, which remain far apart on many areas of the Doha Round trade negotiations, were unable to meet a 31 July deadline to forge a work programme for concluding the Round.
by Kanaga Raja

South stress on developmental outcomes for Nairobi MC10
In their statements at the 31 July Trade Negotiations Committee meeting, developing countries underscored the need for the forthcoming WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi to yield development-friendly results.
by Kanaga Raja

Azevedo rebuffed at TNC by Brazil, India, G33 and LDCs
Speaking at the TNC session, representatives of several developing and least developed countries opposed moves that would result in an imbalanced, watered-down outcome for the Doha Round.
by D. Ravi Kanth

Azevedo pursuing his controversial ideas to help US, other ICs
A closed-door meeting held prior to the TNC session saw a continued push to steer the Doha Round negotiations on domestic farm support towards an outcome that would unduly favour the US and other industrial countries.
by D. Ravi Kanth

ITA-II tentative accord not commercially meaningful
Over 50 developed and developing countries have struck a deal to further free up trade in information technology-related products, but the gains to be delivered by the agreement may have been overstated.
by D. Ravi Kanth

Consensus on post-2015 development agenda struck behind closed doors
UN member states have agreed on a landmark global agenda of development cooperation over the next 15 years, but not before going through murky last-minute talks which produced some significant compromises.
by Bhumika Muchhala, Ranja Sengupta and Chee Yoke Ling

UN committee adopts sovereign debt restructuring principles
A committee of the UN General Assembly has adopted nine principles for sovereign debt restructuring.  This is a timely outcome as more countries are facing debt crises which raise the need for debt restructuring that is fair and economically sustainable.  
by Adriano Jose Timossi and Manuel F. Montes

States asked to effectively control vulture fund activities
A report by a UN human rights advisory body trains the spotlight on the “predatory” activities of vulture funds which profiteer from the debts of poor developing countries and which may impede the latter’s ability to realize basic rights obligations.
by Kanaga Raja

Opinion: No aid, no tax, no development
In light of the pressing need for resources to fund the development effort, Jomo Kwame Sundaram looks at how best developing countries can harness revenue from taxation.

Opinion: Argentina and the ISDS system
Argentina’s experience in dealing with claims lodged against it under the investor-state dispute settlement system throws into sharp relief the many deficiencies of this arbitral regime.
by Federico Lavopa

Analysis: Public agenda, private players
Barbara Adams and Gretchen Luchsinger caution against the hijacking of the global post-2015 development agenda, and the UN system that oversees it, by narrow private and corporate interests.