CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment

Intervening at a general council meeting, the highest forum for taking day-to-day decisions, Khullar said unambiguously that these two issues — a revised Rules text and providing intellectual property right protection for genetic materials — are prerequisites for convening a ministerial meeting. <<More>>

WTO sees no ministerial meeting in May as trade talks still bogged ...
AFP, May 08, 2008

The World Trade Organisation said Wednesday it is highly unlikely that a ministerial meeting will be held this month given the scant progress in talks on liberalising agriculture and other thorny issues. "It would be extremely difficult under this time constraint and given the importance of substance to this process to have such a meeting in May", WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters. The WTO's Doha round of talks to reduce trade barriers was launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 with the aim of reaching a deal by 2004. <<More>>

Doha ball in court of India, China and Brazil
The Hindu, May 07, 2008

Ahead of her meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab has said the big question facing the Doha Round of trade talks is whether emerging markets like India, China and Brazil are ready to make commitments on opening their markets. <<More>>

India unlikely to soften on farming in WTO talks
Reuters India, May 07, 2008

India is unlikely to soften its stance on agriculture at global trade talks and may even gamble on the negotiations stretching into next year when a new U.S. administration is in place, analysts say. India, a key player in World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks, does want a conclusion to the long-running talks, they said. <<More>>

Regional Economic Cooperation

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Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia set up economic association
Nhan Dan, May 08, 2008

The Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Association for Economic Co-operation Development made its official debut in Hanoi on May 6. The voluntary association aims to boost support among members and raise the efficiency of economic and investment co-operation between member countries. It will also gather members’ opinions on strategies and policies relating to economic and investment co-operation. Beginning operation in August last year, the association now has 500 members, including 200 Vietnamese organisations and enterprises currently working with Laos and Cambodia or aspiring to co-operate and invest in the countries. <<More>>

Bangladesh-Malaysia Ties
Asian Tribune, May 07, 2008

Like Malaysia, Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country with around 87 per cent of its 140 million population being Muslim, has also earned international recognition for its moderate religious and cultural ethos, social tolerance and ethnic cohesion, which characterizes Bangladesh as a liberal, tolerant Muslim country. Being co-members of OIC, NAM Commonwealth, D-8 and ARF and as strong proponents of the multilateralism, the two countries share common perception on major Regional and International issues and have been working closely in the International arena to promote peace, stability, and development. About 200,000 Bangladeshis work in Malaysia and people to people contacts between these two nations have been excellently maintained, occasional irritations notwithstanding. <<More>>

Chinese president proposes China-Japan economic and trade co-operation Xinhua, May 07, 2008

During his visit to Japan, Chinese President Hu Jintao has put forward a four-point proposal for further development of China-Japan economic and trade cooperation. Addressing key Japanese business groups, Hu proposed to push bilateral economic ties to a higher level, offering Japan to cooperate in energy-saving and environmental protection, to actively participate in China's regional development, to vigorously promote cooperation between enterprises of the two countries and to advance cooperation in regional and global economic affairs. <<More>>

China-Japan-South Korea FTA Saga: More Thunder, Little Rain
ChinaStakes.com, May 05, 2008

Sumitomo Heavy Industry has officially begun construction of its biggest overseas production base, in Tangshan, China. E-Mart, a Korean-based supermarket chain, recently confirmed its expansion into China this year. By 2014, E-Mart plans to have over 100 stores in China. Despite increasing labor costs and sometimes tangled relations, Japanese and Korean companies have not lost interest in investing in China. <<More>>

Developmental Issues

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Commissioner attacks protectionist 'mirage' of Obama, Clinton
EU Observer, May 08, 2008

The EU's trade chief has hit out at the more protectionist positions on trade that have increasingly been deployed by the Democratic presidential candidates in the United States. Britain's Financial Times is reporting that trade commissioner Peter Mandelson in an interview with the BBC on Thursday (8 May) attacked rhetoric coming from US candidates on the Agreement (NAFTA). <<More>>

The Farm Bill and Free Trade
Wall Street Journal, May 07, 2008

Presidents don't usually veto farm bills. But now President Bush seems intent on making good on his threat to reject the nearly $300 billion farm monstrosity advancing through Congress. Back in November, the White House threatened to veto the legislation because – in addition to the usual pork barrel projects – it contained trade-distorting subsidies. These would sow havoc in our international agreements, and perhaps lead to markets being closed to American products. <<More>>

‘Help fight food crisis; scrap subsidies, lower tariffs’
Inquirer.net, May 07, 2008

Rich countries can help solve the ongoing world food crisis by removing their own agriculture subsidies and lowering tariffs, Senator Edgardo Angara told the 16th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in New York. In his speech, a copy of which was provided INQUIRER.net, the former agriculture secretary set as an example the Philippines, which he said is "now one of the most vulnerable countries in the global rice crisis." <<More>>

African farmers face bleak future over land for biodiesel production
Joy Online, May 07, 2008

Officials of the Agricbusiness Accountability Initiative (AAI), an international network that promotes food system reforms in developing countries, say the future of African farmers will be seriously endangered should their respective countries yield to pressure from both the European Union and other western bodies to covert farmlands into the production of biodiesel. <<More>>