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EU Welcomes WTO Proposal As Positive Step

The European Union says a proposed deal to rescue global trade talks is a "step in the right direction." Mediators at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) presented a draft last Friday (Jul. 16) for an agreement on steering the stalled Doha Development Round (DDR) negotiations towards a pact on reforming global trade.

WTO Compromise In Global Trade Talks Draws Mixed Reaction

Trading nations have given a mixed reception so far to a final attempt by the World Trade Organisation to broker a compromise in deadlocked global trade talks by the end of the month. As informal discussions continued in Geneva, WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi reiterated Tuesday that the compromise text released Friday struck a balance between the 147 member states.

Wto Draft Framework Disappointing: India

Disappointed over the draft Framework for World Trade Organisation negotiations, India on Monday said more work was needed on agriculture to make it acceptable. "We believe that much work will have to be done in making the draft text acceptable," Commerce Ministry on Monday said in a statement.

EU Wants to Reform Sugar Subsidy System

The European Union's head office tackled the sticky problem of sugar subsidies Wednesday, proposing price and production cuts to reform a system critics charge hurts farmers in poorer countries and consumers at home.

France Accuses the U.S. of AIDS Blackmail

July 14, 2004 Wednesday Home Edition Tempers flared here Tuesday as France accused the United States of trying to blackmail small countries such as Thailand into upholding patents on anti-AIDS drugs.

Scientist Calls Decaf Coffee Row Tempest in Teacup

SAO PAULO, Brazil - The Brazilian scientist who recently discovered naturally decaffeinated coffee plants from a collection of wild Ethiopian beans said yesterday reports that he had taken coffee plants illegally from the African country were "nonsense." The spat has underscored the potential money at stake over the rights to

Officials Cite Increasing Convergence, Continuing Gaps in Agriculture Framework

GENEVA--Top trade officials from the United States, the European Union, Brazil, India, and Australia ended two days of meetings in Paris July 11 claiming some progress in efforts to finalize a framework agreement by the end of July for advancing the stalled World Trade Organization talks on agriculture.

Zoellick Questions Survival Of Doha Round If No Framework Agreement Reached In July

Zoellick Questions Survival Of Doha Round If No Framework Agreement Reached In July Remarks of U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick At the Opening Ceremony of the G-90 Meeting Trade Ministers Meeting Mauritius July 12, 2004 Excellency, Prime Minister and colleagues.

G90 Poor Nations Hold Strategy Session Over WTO Trade Talks

Trade ministers from the G90 developing nations were due to open a strategy session on global trade negotiations in Mauritius on Monday, less than a year after a World Trade Organization summit saw their bloc pitted against the world's wealthiest countries.

WTO Trade Talks Show Signs Of Faltering

Trade ministers from developing countries were holding a meeting in Mauritius Monday, amid growing signs that the effort to revive global free trade talks by the end of this month were faltering.