Issue
No. 619/620, 16 June – 15 July 2016
Brexit
– navigating the rocky road ahead
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Hardening
impasse on Doha Round, but no TNC meets so far
Even with the Doha Round talks at a standstill amid a lack of engagement
by the US, the WTO Director-General is yet to convene a meeting of
the Trade Negotiations Committee, which he chairs, to look into the
deadlock.
by D. Ravi Kanth
Several
South nations coalesce around Indian TFS proposal
India has floated a proposal for a WTO agreement on “trade facilitation
in services” to ease cross-border flows of services.
by D. Ravi Kanth
South-North
showdown on Mode 4 in services trade
Restrictions imposed by the US, the EU and Canada on the entry of
service-providing workers from developing countries sparked a lively
debate at a 17 June meeting of the WTO’s Council for Trade in Services.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
No
credible WTO answers on “investment” in “trade in services”
Several WTO member states have raised concern – and received no satisfactory
response – over an apparently unilateral decision by the WTO secretariat
to incorporate the contentious issue of investment in the remit of
its services division.
by D. Ravi Kanth
Deliver
on “cotton issue”, WTO told
Four cotton-producing West African countries have urged a solution
in the WTO to the longstanding problem of subsidies which are distorting
trade in the crop.
by D. Ravi Kanth
WTO
members scold an isolated US over AB veto
The US has come under fire at the WTO for blocking reappointment of
an Appellate Body member, a move which several countries saw as “unjustifiable”
and undercutting states’ trust in the WTO system.
by Kanaga Raja
Uruguay
wins dispute over its tobacco control policies
An arbitral tribunal has rejected cigarette multinational Philip Morris’
challenge against tobacco control measures adopted by Uruguay, in
what has been described as a landmark decision that affirms states’
rights to protect public health.
by Chakravarthi Raghavan
Celebrating
30 years of the Right to Development Declaration
The UN Human Rights Council commemorated the 30th anniversary of the
adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development with a panel
discussion celebrating the milestone document which “broke new ground
in the struggle for greater freedom, equality and justice”.
by Kanaga Raja
Austerity
policies undermining rights within the EU
A UN rights expert has decried the impacts of austerity policies undertaken
in the EU in response to the financial crisis, saying that these measures
have undermined economic, social and labour rights within the bloc.
by Kanaga Raja
Access
to medicines fundamental to achieving right to health
The UN’s Human Rights Council has recognized access to medicines as
a fundamental element of the right to health, while noting that at
least a third of the global population lacks such access on a regular
basis.
by Kanaga Raja
Opinion:
Unfounded debt fears block economic recovery
Fiscal
hawks’ fixation with cutting government deficit and debt levels not
only lacks sound basis but is also impeding growth prospects, maintain
Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
Opinion:
How Africans are robbed of the benefits of mineral wealth
African
countries can harness revenues from their vast mineral resources to
fund broad-based socioeconomic development. But in order to do so,
writes Kwesi W. Obeng, they must ensure that the mining corporations
pay their fair share of taxes.
Analysis:
The witches’ brew of Brexit
In
the wake of the Brexit vote, economic and political uncertainties
abound in the UK, the EU and beyond. Amid all the noise and confusion,
what is needed, contends Chakravarthi Raghavan, is a measure
of calmness and consideration to negotiate the complications that
invariably lie ahead.
