World Trade Organization

India Wants WTO To Address Its Concerns

Armed with a broad political consensus on its World Trade Orangisation (WTO) strategy, the ruling coalition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has said it would press for incorporating the country's concerns in the proposed Framework to be taken up at the General Council meeting in Geneva next week.

Japan's Refusal Of American Apples Hurting Michigan Growers

Japan's 10-year-old import restrictions against U.S.-grown apples are hurting Michigan's growers, even though the state doesn't ship apples there. The Japanese government virtually stopped importing American apples in 1994, saying it feared they would bring in fire blight, a bacterial disease that can reduce yields and kill trees.

France Considers WTO Proposal On Agriculture "Unacceptable"

PARIS, July 21 (Xinhuanet) -- French President Jacques Chirac described Wednesday as "unacceptable" a proposal made by World Trade Organization (WTO) on agriculture to restart the Doha round multilateral negotiations.

Mediators Vow Best Efforts To Find Global Trade Agreement At WTO Meeting

Key mediators warned Tuesday that failure to agree on a draft of a global trade treaty at next week's gathering of the World Trade Organization could doom talks indefinitely.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.