Establishing a ‘Development Agenda’ for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): Commentary on Proposal by Argentina and Brazil.
The fortieth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will take place in Geneva from 27 September to 5 October 2004. The Assemblies will address various matters including issues currently under negotiation in various WIPO committees and bodies. (more…)
Integrating Development into WIPO Activities and Processes: Strategies for the 2004 WIPO Assemblies.
The fortieth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will take place in Geneva from 27 September to 5 October 2004.1 The Assemblies will address various matters including issues currently under negotiation in various WIPO committees and bodies. (more…)
The UNCTAD XI Sao Paulo Consensus: Defining UNCTAD’s Mandate.
This analytical note has been prepared in order to give a concise overview of the salient points of the Sao Paulo Consensus of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at its Eleventh Session. (more…)
Considerations for the Submission of Initial Offers in Light of the Current State of Play of Negotiations.
This note discusses the differing negotiating scenarios for individual Members and aims to present a clearer picture of the near term prospects for market access negotiations. From this, general considerations and options are provided for Members facing pressure to submit initial offers. (more…)
Analysis of Actual Liberalisation versus GATS Commitments of Quad Members: Mode 4 and Health Services.
This note is the first of a series assessing the actual or current level of trade liberalisation in select modes and sectors of the Quad members (Canada, European Communities, Japan and the United States) compared with their General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) commitments in the respective areas. (more…)
The UNCTAD XI: Comments on the 13 May 2004 Draft Negotiated Text.
This paper is intended as a follow-up to the South Centre’s informal paper entitled “The UNCTAD XI: Defining UNCTAD’s Future Mandate” in which readers were provided with a brief overview of the current state of play (as of late March 2004) of the pre-conference negotiations, and then a paragraph by paragraph description of the differences in negotiating positions among various countries. (more…)
A Development Agenda for Intellectual Property Negotiations in 2004 and Beyond.
In 2003, activities in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) were fairly subdued, save for the negotiations relating to the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. (more…)
This paper is intended to provide readers with a brief overview of the current state of play (as of late March 2004) of the pre-conference negotiations, and then goes on to describe, paragraph by paragraph, the differences in negotiating positions among various countries. (more…)
Comments on the WTO Secretariat’s Paper – Tariff Reductions for Agricultural Products: Some Simulations of the Operation of the Blended Formula (JOB(04)/1).
One of the most contentious issues in agriculture negotiations is the blended approach for market access presented in the proposed framework on agriculture in the Draft Ministerial Declaration produced by the Chairman of the Cancun Conference on 13 September 2003. (more…)
Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns: The Way Forward After Cancun.
This paper looks primarily at the history of implementation issues in the WTO since the 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference, and at some of the major initiatives that developing countries have suggested in order to push the negotiations on implementation issues forward. (more…)
Background Note: Article VI (Domestic Regulations) with Emphasis on Paragraph 4 and the EU and Japanese Proposals.
Many subsectors within the service sector, such as infrastructure services, are regulated with the aim to ensure a certain level of quality, to protect consumers, or the environment. (more…)
This note discusses some possible ways in which Mode 4 could be addressed within Article VI:4 on domestic regulation. More specifically it tries to show how qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards and licensing requirements may impact the movement of natural persons under Mode 4. (more…)