WTO Backs Ruling Against U.S. Country-Of-Origin Labeling
Bloomberg, 29 June, 2012
U.S. country-of-origin labeling provisions violate global trade law and unfairly curb agricultural commerce, World Trade Organization judges said as they upheld an earlier ruling backing Canada and Mexico. More…
Lamy: “Multilateralism is at a crossroads”
WTO News, 27 June, 2012
Director-General Pascal Lamy, in a speech at the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance in Berlin on 26 June 2012, said that “multilateralism is at a crossroads. Either it advances in the spirit of shared values and enhanced co-operation, or we will face a retreat from multilateralism, at our own peril. Without global cooperation on finance, security, trade, the environment and poverty reduction, the risks of division, strife and war will remain dangerously real.” More…
US to take on India at WTO over import restrictions on poultry products
Economic Times, 26 June, 2012
The US will formally fight India at the World Trade Organization over import restrictions imposed by New Delhi on poultry products from countries reporting outbreak of low-intensity bird flu, hoping to grab the country’s growing market for chicken legs. More…
India, Brazil & China defend generic drugs at WTO
Economic Times, 24 June, 2012
India, Brazil and China have defended the right of poor countries to access cheap generic medicines at the World Trade Organisation, resisting attempts by the US, Japan and some other developed countries to club counterfeits or copies of patented drugs with fake or spurious ones.More…
WTO chief says trade restrictions alarming
China Daily, 19 June, 2012
Experts are calling for more efforts to reduce trade frictions that have emerged in the current sluggish economic climate while emphasizing China’s contribution to fixing the trade imbalance. More…
China hits back at US criticisms at WTO
Reuters, 14June, 2012
China has rejected U.S. criticisms during a review of its trade policies at the World Trade Organization and used the occasion to suggest many U.S. accusations were not only groundless but in some areas hypocritical. More…
Open trade can boost agricultural productivity, says new study
WTO News, 12 June, 2012
An interagency report published on 12 June 2012 recommends that G20 governments should “demonstrate leadership in multilateral negotiations to strengthen international disciplines on all forms of import and export restrictions, as well as on domestic support schemes that distort production incentives”. More…
Rise in trade restrictions now ‘alarming’, Pascal Lamy tells WTO ambassadors
WTO News, 07 June, 2012
For the first time since the WTO started monitoring the protectionist reaction to the financial crisis in 2008, the scale of trade restrictions is a cause for “serious concern”, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told an informal meeting of heads of delegations to the WTO on 7 June 2012. He also reported on latest developments in the Doha Round negotiations. More…
WTO Intellectual Property Council debates how and where to handle counterfeit trademarked goods
WTO News, 05 June, 2012
WTO members – meeting as the intellectual property council on 5 June 2012 -differed on how to deal with counterfeit goods, and whether the problem is serious enough to be a priority issue. More…