The Agenda for Transfer of Technology: the Working Group of the WTO on Trade and Transfer of Technology.
Technology transfer is a mechanism for the shifting of information across borders and its effective diffusion into recipient economies, thus involving numerous complex processes, ranging from innovation and international marketing of technology to its absorption and imitation. (more…)
Changing Gears on Global Economic Policymaking Coherence: Policy Choices, Flexibility and Diversity in Development Strategies.
This TRADE Analysis provides a brief overview of the “Coherence” agenda in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and tries to inject a new perspective on how such agenda can be made to serve the development goals and interests of developing countries. (more…)
Identification of Priorities and a Road Map in NAMA for the 6th WTO Ministerial Conference.
In his commentaries of 8 and 27 July 2005, the Chairman of the Negotiating Market Access (NGMA) has both reviewed progress in several areas of the NAMA negotiations and identified issues that will require delegations attention in the run-up to the VI WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. (more…)
A Formula for Tariff Cuts: Some Considerations with Respect to Developing Countries’ Tariff Profiles.
One of the most important elements of the mandate contained in Paragraph 16 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, and one that has attracted the foremost attention of negotiators after the adoption of the Declaration, concerns the reduction or, as appropriate, the elimination of tariffs. (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…)
A Compilation of Negotiating Proposals on Trade Facilitation
Paragraph 27 of the 2001 Doha Ministerial Declaration states that: 27. Recognizing the case for further expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit, and the need for enhanced technical assistance and capacity building in this area, we agree that negotiations will take place after the (more…)
Current Trends in Organic Agriculture Markets and Their Implications for Farmers.
The market for organic agricultural products grew steadily during the nineties with global sales estimated at US$ 25 billion in 2003. The projected impressive growth of demand for organic products in the industrialised countries,notably the United States, European Union and Japan constitute an important pull factor for the increase in the production and international trade of organic agricultural products. (more…)
Revenue Implications of WTO NAMA Tariff Reduction.
It is generally accepted that trade liberalisation could have a detrimental impact on developing countries’ government revenue. Indeed, since tariffs collected at the border represent a large share of total government revenues in many WTO developing country members, an overall reduction or elimination of tariffs as a result of NAMA negotiations would force governments to find alternative sources of revenue. (more…)
The UNCTAD XI Sao Paulo Consensus: Defining UNCTAD’s Mandate.
This analytical note has been prepared in order to give a concise overview of the salient points of the Sao Paulo Consensus of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at its Eleventh Session. (more…)
The UNCTAD XI: Comments on the 13 May 2004 Draft Negotiated Text.
This paper is intended as a follow-up to the South Centre’s informal paper entitled “The UNCTAD XI: Defining UNCTAD’s Future Mandate” in which readers were provided with a brief overview of the current state of play (as of late March 2004) of the pre-conference negotiations, and then a paragraph by paragraph description of the differences in negotiating positions among various countries. (more…)
The UNCTAD XI: Defining UNCTAD’s Future Mandate.
This paper is intended to provide readers with a brief overview of the current state of play (as of late March 2004) of the pre-conference negotiations, and then goes on to describe, paragraph by paragraph, the differences in negotiating positions among various countries. (more…)
Comments on the WTO Secretariat’s Paper – Tariff Reductions for Agricultural Products: Some Simulations of the Operation of the Blended Formula (JOB(04)/1).
One of the most contentious issues in agriculture negotiations is the blended approach for market access presented in the proposed framework on agriculture in the Draft Ministerial Declaration produced by the Chairman of the Cancun Conference on 13 September 2003. (more…)
