Publication archives

All of us, journalists, NGO representatives, delegates, attending the WTO ministerial here in Geneva are spending lots of time (and money) at the WTO cafeteria. No doubt the service there is excellent. Friendly waiters make it less painful to think about how many meals you've had in the same place over the past five days!

Negotiations ended tonight with general agreement on a set of numbers for agriculture and industrial goods (NAMA) that had been proposed by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy earlier in the day.

Numbers and rumours are circulating around the WTO about a possible deal for the Doha Round. We have found the document that lays out Lamy's ideas for how to conclude the Doha Round, specifically on modalities for agriculture and industrial goods (NAMA).

Today, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy was given support by the WTO members to continue his small group meetings with seven key WTO powers. He delivered a damning speech to the WTO membership, warning them that the next 24 hours was crucial and that if they showed no further flexibility, they faced the serious consequences of failure.

One of the longest running disputes at the WTO concerns the banana trade. And once again, the banana dispute has popped up this week in Geneva as a stumbling block for negotiators. I sat down this morning with Alistair Smith, expert at Banana Link, to get the latest.

A Camano Island man who stole some rare old-growth timber near Lake Wenatchee has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle in Spokane also ordered Kevin J. Moran to pay $37,688.77 for the value of the trees.

Losses among Canada's largest forest companies increased more than 560 per cent in 2007 from 2006, the worst performance in the sector in the world, according to a report released Wednesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.