Domestic Regulation of Services Sectors: Analysis of the Draft Negotiation Texts.
This document provides a paragraph by paragraph analysis of the draft domestic regulation texts which are currently being discussed at the WTO’s Working Party on Domestic Regulation (services negotiations).
EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): Tools Protecting European Farmers.
The European Union (EU) uses a plethora of policy instruments to protect its agricultural sector and to ensure that European farmers, despite having higher production costs, are still able to continue production for both the European and export markets.
EU’s Increasing Use Of Decoupled Domestic Supports In Agriculture: Implications For Developing Countries.
The EU has been undertaking reform in its Common Agricultural Policy. Nevertheless, subsidies to EU agricultural producers are continuing. The major change is that 93% of these supports are now provided in the form of direct aid payments to producers. (more…)
Sub-Saharan Africa’s Exports Trends and the EPAs.
Trade trends are changing quite rapidly for Africa. A careful analysis of Africa’s export statistics reveals startling facts regarding the markets that are most important for Africa today, and in the years to come. (more…)
The Climate and Trade Relation: Some Issues.
The new released South Centre Research Paper is to examine some important aspects of the linkage between climate change and trade-related issues. In particular, the paper looks at developments in policies taken by governments and the inter-governmental processes to deal with the crisis in climate change, including within the international climate change regime, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and their inter-linkages with the multilateral trade regime, in particular the World Trade Organization (WTO). (more…)
The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Industrial Development of Least Developed Countries.
The South Centre has released a Research Paper which examines the impact of the external shocks from the global economic crisis on industrial development of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). These countries are heavily exposed to external shocks because of their extensive trade with the rest of the world. Yet, they are marginalized in terms of their share in international trade and output. (more…)
Contentious Issues in the Goods EPAs: What is the Value of the 2009 Renegotiations?.
A large part of the discomfort of many ACP countries vis-à-vis the EPAs have to do with what are now known as ‘contentious issues’ or ‘unresolved issues’. Negotiations on these issues took place between the EU and some African sub-regions in 2009, with agreements on some of these issues emerging for SADC and ESA countries. (more…)
The Extent of Agriculture Import Surges in Developing Countries: What are the Trends.
The paper gives an overview of the trends in different groupings of developing countries’ agricultural import surges, as well as the import surge statistics for a sample of 56 developing countries. This is followed by a look at the products for which import surges are most frequently occurring. (more…)
Carbon-Based Competitiveness, Trade and Climate Change: Perspectives of Developing Countries.
This paper analyses a number of issues raised by the increasing links between the global trade and climate agendas such as tariff liberalisation on green technologies, the use of low carbon standards, intellectual property rights and border adjustment measures. The paper examines these issues from the perspectives of developing countries focusing on the political and economic considerations that underlie them. (more…)
The Draft GATS Domestic Regulation Disciplines – Potential Conflicts With Developing Country Regulations.
This Analytical Note updates a 2006 South Centre Analytical Note (SC/AN/TDP/SV/11) ‘The Development Dimension of the GATS Domestic Regulation Negotiations’, which discusses the implications of the GATS Article VI: 4 disciplines on domestic regulation for developing countries. (more…)
International Trade and Climate Change.
The Waxman – Markey bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives envisages certain measures to restrict carbon dioxide emissions and requires the president to levy a charge on imports of carbon-intensive products from countries that do not adopt similar climate change measures. U.S. importers would have to buy carbon “allowances” for such products, purportedly for maintaining a level playing ground between domestic and overseas producers. (more…)
The ACRE Program – A Volatile New Source of U.S. Amber Box Spending.
WTO member countries viewed the 2007-08 farm policy debate as a measure of U.S. seriousness in getting a Doha Round deal. Congress brushed aside these objections and passed a Farm Bill that maintains high levels of subsidies for larger-scale farm operations. (more…)
