State of Play in the WTO Agriculture Negotiations: Country Groupings’ Positions – December 2005 Update.
The present note provides an overview of the position of various countries and group of countries active in the WTO agriculture negotiations, with respect to the critical issues under discussion. (more…)
Overview of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in Quad Countries on Tropical Fruits and Vegetables Imported from Developing Countries.
A number of developing countries,1 and especially least developed countries (LDCs), rely on agriculture for their food security, export earnings and rural development. It has been estimated that the agricultural sector accounts for between 30 per cent and 60 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for many of these countries, and is the major source of foreign exchange. (more…)
Hong Kong Ministerial Conference: Bottom Lines for LDCs in the GATS Negotiations.
This analytical note aims to assist least developed countries (LDCs) participate more actively in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiations leading up to the Sixth Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in December 2005 by (more…)
A Conceptual Framework to Understand Supply Management Programmes.
A supply management programme can be defined as a policy tool that controls the production and supply of a commodity in order to achieve a desirable price objective in a relevant market. (more…)
Policy Challenges for Developing Countries in Large Scale Mining.
Many developing countries are rich in natural resources and in particular mineral commodities. (more…)
Issues of Interest to LDCs in the WTO Services Negotiations – Series No 3: Emergency Safeguard Mechanism.
The negotiations on Article X on an Emergency Safeguard Mechanism (ESM) of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) were initiated after the establishment of the GATS at the end of the Uruguay Round of negotiations in 1995. (more…)
Some considerations on acceding to the GSTP Agreement and joining the Third Round of GSTP Negotiations
In the São Paulo Declaration of 16 June 2004, developing country Ministers gathered at UNCTAD XI have agreed to launch a Third Round of trade negotiations among participants to the General System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP). (more…)
State of Play in Agriculture Negotiations: Country Groupings’ Positions.
The purpose of the present note is to provide an overview of the position of various countries and group of countries active in the WTO agriculture negotiations with respect to critical issues under discussion. (more…)
Issues of Interest to LDCs in the WTO Services Negotiations – Series No. 2: Telecommunications Services.
The telecommunications sector is of crucial importance in every economy. Almost every other sector of an economy depends on telecommunications services in their economic activity. Most businesses today rely to a great extent on data transmission by information and communication technologies for their operations – in other words, functioning without telecommunications services is inconceivable for most business operations. (more…)
Dependency of Developing Countries on Non-Agricultural Commodities: Characteristics and Challenges.
Information on non-agricultural commodities is not as widely available as for agricultural commodities. The purpose of this paper is to identify, in contrast to agricultural commodities, what is the extent of dependency of developing countries on non-agricultural commodities, what are the main characteristics of this dependency, which developing countries are most dependent on this type of commodities and what are the challenges they face in the trade arena and from a wider developmental view. (more…)
GATS Mode 4 Negotiations and Low Skilled Workers.
This note considers the interest of least developed country (LDC) Members to participate in the market access negotiations of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The request and offer process of negotiations begins appropriately with the submittal of an initial request. (more…)
Analysis of Actual Liberalisation Versus Quad Members GATS Commitments and Offers: Focus on a) Mode 1 and b) Tourism and Travel Related Services.
This note is focused on two areas: a) mode 1 or cross-border supply of trade in services, and b) the tourism and travel related services sector. The goal of this exercise is to assess whether GATS commitments made by a few of the most developed service economies, i.e. Quad members, can be considered “weak”, below actual levels of liberalisation and occurring outside of the WTO GATS regime. (more…)
