Issue No. 641, 16-31 May 2017
WTO members contest agenda in run-up to MC11

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State of play in the WTO towards the 11th Ministerial in Argentina
The ongoing battle to shape the outcome of the WTO Ministerial Conference this December will go a long way towards charting the WTO’s future course: whether it will serve large corporate interests or promote genuine development. Deborah James lays out the issues at stake.

North to try to bury DDA, push e-commerce and MSME talks at MC11
Moves are reportedly afoot in the WTO to kill off the Doha Round of negotiations and its agenda of outstanding issues in favour of talks on new topics aligned with developed-country interests.
by D. Ravi Kanth

Prospects for Doha agri accords at MC11 bleak
The Buenos Aires Ministerial Conference seems likely to yield an inconsequential outcome in the key area of agriculture.
by D. Ravi Kanth

DG Azevedo needs to come clean on his meeting with USTR
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo has remained conspicuously silent in the face of US moves seen as a threat to the independent functioning of the trade body’s dispute settlement system.
by D. Ravi Kanth

EGA participants call for stalled talks to resume
Many of the WTO members negotiating the liberalization of trade in so-called environmental goods have urged resumption of the currently deadlocked talks.
by Kanaga Raja

WTO TRIPS Council debates IP and the public interest
WTO member states recently discussed the relationship between intellectual property and the public interest, including the use of compulsory licences to override patent rights on public health and other grounds.
by Kanaga Raja

Closing the gender gap could add $5.8 trillion to world economy
Reducing the disparity between men’s and women’s participation in the labour force can significantly raise global employment and output, according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
by Kanaga Raja