Issue
No. 616/617, 1-31 May 2016
Differences
in WTO talks persist
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South
stress on S&DT, development, SSM, public stockholding
A
12 May meeting of the WTO’s governing General Council saw member states
outline their priorities for the WTO negotiating agenda.
by
Kanaga Raja
US-led
efforts to erase development outcomes of DDA shot down
Divisions
over the way ahead for the WTO talks came into relief at the informal
heads-of-delegation meeting on 9 May, as the following two articles
report.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
WTO
chairs’ reports reveal continued differences on key issues
by
Kanaga Raja
Developing
countries stress importance of SSM
At
a WTO meeting convened to discuss the question of a Special Safeguard
Mechanism in agricultural trade, many developing countries voiced
the need for such an instrument to insulate themselves from trade
shocks in the sector.
by
Kanaga Raja
G33
nix EU move to link PSH solution to domestic subsidy cuts
Members
of the developing-country G33 grouping which is calling for public
food stock schemes to be greenlighted by the WTO have rejected attempts
to link this issue with domestic farm subsidy cuts.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
Rules
talks on all outstanding issues or only on fisheries subsidies?
The
scope of discussion in the WTO rules negotiations remains uncertain,
with the US seeking to limit the focus to fisheries subsidies.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
US
and G7 allies pressure China on zero-tariff EGA
The
US and other industrial countries are seeking to push China to scrap
tariffs on a wide array of “environmental goods” under a plurilateral
treaty currently being negotiated.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
Isolated
US still vetoes Chang reappointment to AB
The
US has blocked the reappointment of a member of the WTO’s Appellate
Body adjudicating on trade disputes, despite strong concerns expressed
by other countries over the “troubling” and “very inappropriate” move.
by
D. Ravi Kanth
AB
members challenge US over Chang reappointment
The
US’ rejection of a second term in the WTO Appellate Body for Seung
Wha Chang has come under fire from current and former members of the
body, reports D. Ravi Kanth in the two articles below.
Former
AB members censure US on Chang veto
by
D. Ravi Kanth
Nearly
$10 trillion needed to end poverty by 2030, says ILO
Describing
progress in combating poverty thus far as uneven and fragile, the
International Labour Organization has stated that almost $600 billion
is needed a year to eradicate poverty by 2030, and that sustainable
poverty reduction demands the availability of decent work.
by
Kanaga Raja
Opinion:
Free trade in rhetoric, protection in practice
Western
countries are fond of preaching “free trade” to developing countries,
but their own practice is often protectionist instead.
by
Martin Khor
Opinion:
Increasing economic inequality not inevitable
Vladimir
Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram trace the trajectory of economic
inequality up to the present day, with yawning income and wealth gaps
once again opening up.
Opinion:
Policymakers, listen to your hired help
Our
global economy will never become more productive, the developed world’s
official economic research agency suggests, if we continue to let
wealth concentrate.
by
Sam Pizzigati
Opinion:
After the “battle of the century”, what next for debt crisis management?
Argentina’s
costly recent settlement with vulture fund creditors has further strengthened
the latter’s predatory business model, writes Bodo Ellmers,
but options for fair and effective management of sovereign debt problems
remain available.
