Friday 22 August 2008 Car taxes in China
China finds a way to cut car imports without offending the WTO

Sunday 03 August 2008 The tragedy of the Doha round
Trade ministers have come too close to a deal to let the Doha round die

Thursday 31 July 2008 China’s Shift on Food Was Key to Trade Impasse
GENEVA — Some blamed soybeans. Others blamed cotton. And many pointed a finger at America’s election-year politics.
But the collapse of negotiations to open world markets gave way Wednesday to resignation that a shift in the global economic hierarchy had darkened the prospect any time soon of a new accord to further open markets.

“This is simply too complex,” the director general of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, said of the multidimensional game of chess that finally ended in stalemate.

Thursday 31 July 2008 Trade Talks Broke Down Over Chinese Shift on Food
Once a strong defender of free trade, China insisted at trade talks in Geneva that developing countries be allowed to impose high tariffs on food imports from affluent countries.

Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 Agriculture derails WTO pact
Canada will push ahead with bilateral trade talks after negotiations aimed at striking a global agreement to bring new wealth...

Why the Doha Round of talks finally died
The bricks are crumbling in the house of global trade and the Brics, those fashionable emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China, are crumbling, too, wracked by inflation, slackening growth and the flight of hot money.

OTTAWA: TRADE STRATEGY TO SHIFT AFTER WTO COLLAPSE
The federal government says it will seek bilateral trade accords in the wake of the collapse of the latest round of international trade liberalization negotiations within the framework of the World Trade Organization. Trade Minister Michael Fortier and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz say they're "disappointed" by the latest failure but that Canada will be at the table if and when the talks resume, while acknowledging that this may take some time. The ministers suggests that more consensus should be found among lower-level officials before ministerial negotiations are again attempted. Mr. Fortier and Mr. Ritz says that in the meantime Canada must seek bilateral trade deals in the Americas and with emerging economies like China and India. But the Canadian Chamber of Commerce questions whether Canada has the economic clout to win concessions from other countries through bilateral negotiation the way the U.S. or EU can. And the Canadian Agri-Food Alliance says that success in Geneva could have meant $3 billion in additional exports for Canadian farmers.

Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 Implications of the WTO failure
What now, according to economists, diplomats and officials:

29 July 2008 Talks over the Doha round of global trade negotiations have collapsed
AFTER nine days, Pascal Lamy’s gamble has failed. On Tuesday July 29th talks on the Doha round of global trade negotiations broke up in Geneva without agreement. The director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will find little consolation in the fact that ministers kept talking for so long, or that they ultimately stumbled over an apparently small detail of new rules on agricultural trade. Mr Lamy says that the WTO’s 153 members will have to wait “for the dust to settle” before deciding what to do next: a formal meeting of the WTO’s trade-negotiating committee is due on Wednesday. But the chances of completing the round this year, as Mr Lamy had hoped, now look negligible. The chances of completing it at all do not look good.

Monday 28 July 2008 Ministers make headway on elusive WTO deal
Disputes in several areas do not prevent a sense of optimism over the multiyear process

Sunday 27 July 2008 The possibility of a breakthrough on the fifth day of World Trade Organization negotiations appeared after five days of arduous but previously fruitless talks between representatives of 35 WTO member states. European Trade Commissioner says he sees a "good hope" a trade liberalization deal will emerge for the first time since the "Doha round" began seven years ago. The WTO's director general, Pascal Lamy, submitted a series of proposals based on number to seven of the 35 nations, all of whom accepted them except India. The others are Australia, Brazil, China, the U.S., Japon and the United Emirates. The series of negotiations have been stalled by North-South disagreements. Developing nations demand that rich ones end their agricultural subsidies and tariffs, while wealthy states want emerging ones to open their markets to their industrial products and financial services.

Sunday Jul 27, 2008 Delegates at the World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva on Saturday agreed to extend their negotiating session for another three days. They are trying to come up with a new international agreement liberalizing trade, removing import tariffs and trade-distorting subsidies. Some delegates said they see progress being made while others said there are still serious issues to resolve. The developed countries want industrialised nations to cut subsidies and tariffs for agricultural products while the European Union and US are asking emerging nations such as China, India and Brazil to open their markets.

Fri 25/07/2008 The 35-nations convened in Geneva under the aegis of the World Trade Organization to attempt to complete the "Doha round" of international trade liberalization showed little sign of progress on Thursday after four days. Brazil's foreign minister, and Celso Amorim, and the U.S. trade representative, Susan Schwab, agreed that Friday's session is crucial. One unnamed diplomatic source told Agence France Press that the talks are in danger of collapse. Since the original "Doha round" in Qatar in 2001, there have been several such collapses. The talks have been bogged down with differences between wealthy and developing nations. The U.S. and EU have until now refused to give up farm subsidies and tariffs, and developing nations have declined up to open up their markets to imported industrial products and financial services. At this latest round, the U.S. and EU have offered to reduce market-distorting subsidies to farmers and were awaiting a counteroffer on their industrial products.

Thursday 24 July 2008 Thirty of the world's leading trade negotiators are meeting at the World Trade Organization's headquarters in a last-ditch to conclude a treaty to liberalize world trade. WTO chief Pascal Lamy called the conference to salvage the negotiations that began at Doha, Qatar, seven years ago. There was little sign of progress late Wednesday evening. The talks have been bogged down with differences between wealth and developing nations. The U.S. and EU have until now refused to give up farm subsidies and tariffs, and developing nations have declined up open up their markets to imported industrial products and financial services. At this latest round, the U.S. and EU have offered to reduce market-distorting subsidies to farmers and were awaiting a counteroffer on their industrial products

Thursday Jul 24, 2008 Failure of trade talks would be a world tragedy
Storm clouds darken the economic horizon in every direction these days, making this an unlikely time for any further liberalization of the world's trade rules. But trade ministers and senior officials from the biggest countries in the global economy sat down in Geneva on Monday to begin six days of meetings in the latest effort to awaken the so-called Doha Round of trade talks from their coma.

Saturday 31 May 2008 TORONTO: FARM MINISTERS DISCUSS WTO
While the finance ministers were meeting in Montreal, their agriculture colleagues were convened in Toronto. Federal Minister Gerry Ritz said that one of their concerns involved the Canada's negotiations with the World Trade Organization. Canada places quotas on imports of dairy products, poultry and eggs, and is worried that WTO proposals would either force Canada to increase the quotas or to reduce the penalties for exceeding them.

Sunday 20 April 2008 The head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says that an agreement in the next round of global trade negotiations is vital to finding a long-term solution to rising food prices. Supachai Panitchpakdi spoke on Saturday on the the eve of an UNCTAD summit in Ghana. He said that the world's nations need to move as early as possible to a conclusion of the Doha round of trade negotiations, particularly in the area of agriculture. The world's developing nations have long accused developed nations of provided unfair government subsidies to their local farmers, as well as maintaining tariffs on agricultural imports.

Monday 14 April 2008 Ukraine is set to join the WTO in May

Sunday 30 March 2008 OTTAWA: CANADA WINS BEEF DECISION AT WTO
For the fourth time since 1999, Canada and the U.S. have won a decision by the World Trade Organization against the EU's ban on imports of beef treated with hormones. The decision allows the two countries to maintain up to $125 million of sanctions on certain European products. Canada has imposed $11.3 million of duties on imported European pork, cucumbers and gherkins. This is the fourth time that the WTO has ruled that hormone-treated beef isn't a health threat as the EU contends. The dispute began in 1989 when the EU banned imports of Canadian and American hormone-treated beef. It's far from certain that the latest adverse finding will dissuade the Europeans from continuing the dispute

Tuesday 05 February 2008 Ukraine Joins the W.T.O. By ANDREW E. KRAMER
The move, after 15 years of negotiations, is a milestone for the former Soviet state that helps clear the way for an even more valuable free trade agreement with the European Union.

Saturday 12 January 2008 GENEVA: CANADA EXTENDS DEADLINE ON MODIFIED FOODS
Canada has agreed to extend a deadline for the European Union to change its rules on the import of genetically modified foods. Officials at the World Trade Organization say a joint letter had been received from the Canadian and EU trade representatives in Geneva laying out a new `reasonable period of time' for Brussels to comply with a WTO ruling. The ruling deemed the restrictions imposed by some European countries illegal. Canadian and European trade officials confirmed the substance of the letter, but declined to provide details on which issues remain to be resolved. A WTO panel ruled in November that some European countries broke international trade rules by stopping imports of genetically modified foods. Canada, the US and Argentina complained to the global trade body about this practice.

2007

Tuesday 18 December 2007 GENEVA: WTO TAKES ON CANADIAN COMPLAINT AGAINST U.S.
The World Trade Organization has agreed to consider complaints by Canada and Brazil that U.S. farm subsidies violate its rules. The trade body agreed at a meeting of its 151 member states to merge separate complaints by the two countries. The development comes after failure by the three countries to resolve the dispute within the framework of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body. The WTO will now appoint a panel of experts to rule on the complaints and report back within six months. The verdict can be appealed. Canada complains that the U.S. violated its commitments on subsidies for a variety of crops, including corn, wheat, soybeans, sugar, peas and beans. The U.S. had already responded that several of the subsidies about which Canada has complained have ceased to exist.

Wednesday 28 November 2007 1:03 GENEVA: CANADA, BRAZIL ACT AGAINST U.S. AT WTO
Canada and Brazil have filed complaints against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body. Canada accuses the Americans of exceeding ceilings on government crop subsidies in the years between 1999 and 2005, excepting 2003. The crops in question include corn, wheat, soybeans, sugar, peas and beans. Brazil, for its part, accuses Washington over farm subsidies over the same period. The U.S. government has responded by saying it's "disappointed" and that the actions by Canada and Brazil distract from the long-term goal of reaching a global accord for liberalized trade under the "Doha round." Regarding Canada's complaint, Washington says that some of the subsidies in question no longer exist.

Tuesday 09 October 2007 EDMONTON: U.S. LABEL PLAN DENOUNCED
Canadian beef and pork producers have urged the federal government to lobby vigorously to head off a U.S. plan to impose labels which specify where meat products come from as well as tracking rules for them. The Canadian Cattlemen's Association and the Canadian Pork Council say the law would cost them $500 million a year. The lobbies say the law will be a violation of the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the NAFTAWorld Trade Organization. The law would oblige American importers of Canadian pigs and cattle to slaughter them separately and to label the products "from Canada and the United States." The Canadian producers say they fear that American slaughterhouses and supermarkets won't want the extra trouble and cost of doing so. The Canadian government has said in a formal submission to Washington that the proposal will undo 18 years of free trade under NAFTA, and that the impending law "is clearly discriminatory, costly and backwards."

Thursday 27 September 2007 GENEVA: CANADA BRINGS ACTION AT WTO OVER SEAL HUNT
The Canadian government has lodged a complaint at the World Trade Organization over bans by Belgium and The Netherlands on the sale of Canadian seal products. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson says the EU is disappointed by Canada's move but will defend the interests of its two member states. Mr. Mandelson also says the EU will study whether an EU-wide ban would be justified. Earlier this year, the European Commission rejected appeals for such a ban to force an end to Canada's annual east coast seal hunt on grounds of cruelty. The Commission found that the ban on the import of fur taken from seal pups younger than 12 days is an "adequate response," finding as well that the seal population in Arctic and Atlantic Canada has grown considerably from two million to thrice that number in the past 30 years. Two months ago, Canadian Trade Minister David Emerson said that Ottawa would seek formal WTO consultations over Belgium's ban on seal products which he said is a violation of Belgium's international trade obligations under the WTO.

Wednesday 01 August 2007 HALIFAX: CANADA CHALLENGES SEAL BAN AT WTO
Canada has initiated action at the World Trade Organization to force Belgium to rescind its ban on Canadian seal products. Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn says the government has taken the initial step of requesting formal consultations about what Canada considers a violation of Belgium's trade obligations under WTO rules, which could be followed by a full challenge. Mr. Hearn acknowledges that Belgium imports far fewer seal products than other European nations like Norway and Germany, but that the government intends to use Belgium as an example for other European states considering a ban as well. Italy and Luxembourg have introduced temporary bans, while Germany and The Netherlands have said they're moving ahead with bans. Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay says it's regrettable that things have come to such a pass, but that the government will fight such bans "on all fronts." Ottawa has striven for years against bans on seal products, amidst pressure from animal rights activities who claim the annual east coast hunt is cruel. The government claims that the hunt, which was valued at $30 million last year, is an important economic resources for residents of eastern Canada.

Sunday 10 June 2007 OTTAWA:rci CANADA LAUNCHES ACTION AGAINST U.S. FARM SUBSIDIES
Canada has requested that the World Trade Organization establish a panel to decide whether the U.S. government is providing American farmers with illegal export subsidies. Trade Minister David Emerson says the step is the Canadian government's latest attempt to protect his country's farmers from the ill effects of the American export credit guarantees. Under WTO rules, Washington has the right to provide farmers with as much as US$19.1 billion annually. But the request for a trade panel contends that the actual sum is far higher.

Wednesday 11 April 2007 U.S. turns up heat on piracy in China
Files two new complaints to WTO in effort to tackle growing trade deficits

Tuesday 10 April 2007

The spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, DC, and attempts to restart the Doha round of world trade talks at a meeting of trade ministers from the U.S., the EU, India and Brazil Make-or-break global trade talks planned

2006

Sunday 26 November 2006 OTTAWA: CANADA WELCOMES WTO RULING ON ALTERED FOODS
The Canadian government has welcomed a ruling by the World Trade Organization which invalidates a temporary moratorium on the importation of genetically modified foods from Canada. The Canadian trade minister, David Emerson, recalled that Ottawa had long maintained that there was no scientific justification for the EU's delay in approving genetically altered foodstuffs from Canada and that the moratorium was therefore an unjustified trade obstacle. Most of the imports in questions are cereals and grains. Canada's agriculture minister, Chuck Strahl, has called the ruling a huge victory for Canadian farmers, particularly those engaged in biotechnology. The EU says it won't appeal the ruling.

Saturday 11 November 2006 nyt Russia Near Deal to Join the W.T.O
MOSCOW, Nov. 10 — Officials in Washington and Moscow reached an agreement in principle for Russia to join the World Trade Organization, crossing the final big hurdle in the stop-and-go cycle that has marked the process since Moscow began its application shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The deal is expected to be signed next Saturday, when both President Bush and President a class="t2" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/vladimir_v_putin/index.html?inline=nyt-per" onmouseover="return overlib('click to nytimes.com/', LEFT);" onmouseout="return nd();" target="_" >Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will be in Hanoi for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, negotiators from both countries said. The White House also announced this week that President Bush planned to stop in Moscow on Nov. 15 on his way to Vietnam.

rci The United States and Russia have reached an agreement in principle for Moscow's entry into the World Trade Organization. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab says Washington hopes presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin can sign the accord at the Asian Summit in Hanoi later this month. The agreement removes one of the last obstacles in Moscow's 13-year-old bid to join the WTO. However, it still must reach a multilateral deal with all WTO members to bring its domestic laws and regulations into line with international norms.

Trade talks collapse The future of globalisation

Thu 27/07/2006 ec The Doha trade round collapsed in acrimony when Pascal Lamy, head of the World Trade Organisation, said he was suspending negotiations because they had failed to reach a compromise on farm trade. His decision came after the United States, the European Union, Brazil, India, Japan and Australia held a meeting to try to save the talks. With an early resumption of the process unlikely, advocates for the Doha round expressed utter dismay.

Mon 24/07/2006 OTTAWA: CANADA DEJECTED BY WTO FAILURE
The Canadian government has expressed disappointment with the collapse of the five-year "Doha Round" negotiations to liberalize world trade. Pascal Lamy, the WTO's chief, suspended them after six key member states were unable to agree on a way to end the deadlock. Canada's trade minister, David Emerson, deplored the failure despite the enormous efforts by all WTO members to reach an accord. Mr. Emerson says the failure is disappointing not only for Canadians but for both the world's developed and developing nations. Canada's agriculture minister, Chuck Strahl, says Canadian farmers would have benefited from expanded world markets, adding that Canada will keep striving for a fairer international trade environment for the country's farmers.

Five years of international negotiations to liberalize world trade to benefit developing nations have ended in failure. The head of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, has recommended the suspension of the talks involving 149 member nations. The recommendation followed the collapse of talks in Geneva between Australia, Brazil, India, Japan and the U.S. The talks in the "Doha Round" fell apart over the hugely contentious issues of farm protectionism in the U.S. and the EU and tariffs blocking access to markets both there and in the Third World.

Monday Jul 17, 2006 Bush blocks Russia's WTO bid
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- In a chilly summit prelude, President Bush blocked Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization on Saturday, and President Vladimir Putin mockingly said Moscow doesn't want the kind of violence-plagued democracy the United States has fostered in Iraq.
Alternately joking and poking at each other, the two also showed differences at a news conference on the explosion of violence in the Mideast.

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 Doha round of WTO negotiations is "in crisis" according to Director General Pascal Lamy.

MOSCOW (AP) - The Group of Eight foreign ministers held extensive discussions on Iran, the latest Mideast crisis and a range of other international issues in a day of meetings in Moscow but did not debate a theme that has dominated public discussion of this year's Russian presidency of the elite group: the state of democracy in Russia.

MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Representatives of non-governmental organizations will gather in Moscow for a two-day forum Monday in the run-up to the Group of Eight summit of leaders from the industrialized world later this month.

Monday Dec 26, 2005 Wed1242

These points give rise to the question: can one speak of subsidies in absolute terms of good and evil, or should the developed world be looking at new strategies to make subsidies work where necessary? Canada is a case in point. Without government subsidies neither the national rail system nor the Trans-Canada highway would have been completed.

Tuesday Dec 20, 2005 nyt Hong Kong Holding Pattern
If the rich world can't figure out a way to get poor countries involved in free trade, then the global economy will suffer.

Tuesday Dec 20, 2005 ts World trade talks defy doomsayers
There were 149 countries represented in Hong Kong at the World Trade Organization conference that ended Sunday and which was aimed at saving the so-called Doha Round of negotiations to further liberalize world trade. They brought with them 149 different agendas, although the countries largely fell into two broad camps.

Monday Dec 19, 2005 ec Hard truths in Hong Kong
Despite haggling for six days, negotiators at the World Trade Organisation's Hong Kong ministerial made almost no progress on the issues at the heart of the Doha round of trade talks: cutting farm tariffs, freeing trade in industrial goods and opening services markets

rci After six days of difficult talks in Hong Kong, the World Trade Organization reached a limited agreement on the final day of its meeting. Developing nations approved an offer by the European Union to end farm export subsidies progressively by 2013. Negotiators from Brazil and India welcomed the move. They hope that it will pave the way for a comprehensive global free-trade pact by the end of next year. But analysts say that the deal is largely a face-saving measure to save talks that often verged on collapse. The WTO also took action to help African cotton growers. Starting in 2008, developing countries in Africa and elsewhere will be able to export cotton to industrialized nations duty-free. The move will help developing countries, but they say that the real problem is the multi-billion dollar subsidies that the United States pays to its cotton farmers. The subsidies allow the Americans to keep world cotton prices low.

Thursday Dec 15, 2005 ts Anti-WTO protesters march in Hong Kong
Hundreds of protesters pumped their fists in the air and shouted: ?Down, down WTO? as they paraded through Hong Kong Wednesday.

Thursday Dec 15, 2005 rci Six days of crucial international trade talks have begun in Hong Kong. Thousands of delegates to the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference were welcomed to the territory by its administrator. Donald Tsang in his welcoming remarks offered a full endorsement of free trade, telling Hong Kong's guests that the territory was nothing but a fishing village until it began creating huge prosperity based on trade. The WTO has been trying to negotiate a wide-ranging reduction of trade barriers since 1995. The last WTO ministerial meeting collapsed in Mexico two years ago, chiefly over the issue of the agricultural tariffs and subsidies offered to their farmers by the U.S. and the EU. The WTO held preparatory talks to try to prepare a compromise on the question in October but they failed. Both the U.S. and the Europeans have offered to reduce their agricultural trade barriers but those offered by the Americans are bigger than those proposed by the EU. The U.S., Brazil and India have allied in Hong Kong to put pressure on the Europeans to go farther.

Thursday Dec 15, 2005 rci Major international trade negotiations start in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The six days of scheduled talks within the framework of the World Trade Organization are the latest effort by WTO members to agree on a broad reduction of barriers to trade liberalization. The U.S. trade representative, Rob Portman, arrived in the territory on Monday ahead of the opening of the conference. He discussed one of the major obstacles to a world accord, the inability to agree on the issue of farm subsidies and tariffs. Mr. Portman says the U.S. made in October an offer to reduce tariffs which hasn't been matched by the other important parties on the issue, particularly the EU. The offer involves proposed tariff reductions ranging between 55 and 90 percent depending on the farm commodity. Europe has proposed reduction of between 35 and 60 per cent. The last WTO ministerial in Mexico two years ago collapsed over disagreement of the agricultural question. However, Mr. Portman says his country agrees with the EU position that liberalization in trade of industrial goods and services should be negotiated at the same time as agriculture.

?Tuesday Dec 13, 2005 nyt Trade Talks Now Expected to Focus on Exports of Poorest Nations
By KEITH BRADSHER
The director general of the World Trade Organization has called for an agreement eliminating all duties and quotas on the exports of at least 32 of the world’s poor countries.

Tuesday Dec 13, 2005 ts Farm impasse threatens WTO summit
HONG KONG—Seattle, Cancun ... Hong Kong? Trade summits in the first two cities collapsed amid bickering and strident street protests. Now trade ministers hope Hong Kong, where they gather for this week's World Trade Organization meeting, won't become a third name on that list.

New Delhi, Nov 27, IRNA World Trade Organization draft offers no roadmap: India's FICCI ....disappointment over the directionless approach of first Draft for the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference released Saturday

16 Nov 05 globe U.S. wins softwood-lumber ruling: WTO

Latest softwood-lumber ruling says U.S. has made enough changes to its import duties

1:38 PM | FULL STORY 

[For background on softwood lumber, see CBC's excellent pages at: softwood_lumber/ and/or the pages on the Department of Foreign Affairs and InternationalTrade at: dfait-maeci.gc.ca/eicb/softwood/ and Wed1234 ]

Wednesday Oct 12, 2005 rci MOSCOW:CANADA, RUSSIA IN WTO TALKS
Trade negotiators for Canada and Russia are holding two days of talks concerning Russia's application to become a member of the World Trade Organization. Russia's chief negotiator, Maxim Medvedkov, says the two sides have achieved considerable progress. Canada's main goal in the negotiations is to obtain greater access to Russia's aerospace, energy and financial sectors. The Canadians alsOWN Russia to align its domestic energy prices with those prevailing in world markets. Before becoming a WTO member, Russia must also reach bilateral trade accords with the U.S., Brazil, Argentina and Australia.

Wednesday Aug 31, 2005 ts WTO ruling won't end softwood war: Minister
OTTAWA — An American victory in the softwood lumber trade dispute is disappointing but not a crippling blow and won't dramatically change Canada's position in the long-running dispute, Trade Minister Jim Peterson vowed today.

Aug 4th 2005 ec
Is there any point to the WTO?
Does the World Trade Organisation promote trade? A reprise

Thursday Apr 14, 2005 ec
Online gambling Jokers wild
Who was really the winner from the WTO's gambling decision?
GAMBLING is not prohibited by the Ten Commandments, nor is it one of the seven deadly sins. Still, America bans almost all forms of wagering when it happens by phone or internet, on the grounds of protecting “public morals”. That ban violates free-trade rules for services, complained the islands state of Antigua and Barbuda to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). On April 7th, a WTO appeals panel reached a decision that both sides have claimed as a victory.

Sunday Nov 28, 2004 GENEVA: WTO GIVES CANADA GREEN LIGHT FOR TRADE SANCTIONS AGAINST U.S.
The World Trade Organization has given its final approval to Canada, the European Union and five other countries to decree trade sanctions against the U.S. for its refusal to respect a WTO ruling. The parties are authorized to retaliate against the Americans because of the U.S. government's refusal to abolish the "Byrd amendment." That law passed in 2000 authorizes Washington to pay anti-dumping tariffs levied to the American companies that demanded them against their foreign competitors. Earlier this week, the Canadian government announced public consultations across the country to find out which actions Canadians want their government to take to retaliate. In Washington, the commerce department has said it will amend the "Byrd amendment" to conform with the WTO ruling.

Wednesday Nov 24, 2004 OTTAWA: CANADA TO CONSULT OVER TRADE DISPUTE WITH U.S.
Canada's trade minister, Jim Peterson, says he'll hold public consultations to ask Canadians whether Canada should retaliate over the refusal of the U.S. to implement a trade ruling of the World Trade Organization. Mr. Peterson says retaliation is not Canada's preferred reaction, but the U.S. has failed to meet its international obligations. The WTO has ruled that the "Byrd amendment" is illegal under international law. It allows American companies to receive the revenues generated by countervailing duties and antidumping tariffs on their foreign competitors. Canadian softwood lumber firms have paid $3 billion in such duties since 2002. Small amounts of the money were paid by the U.S. government last year; $1 billion could be paid annually starting in 2007 if the duties are still being collected. On Aug. 31, the WTO ruled that Canada and six other nations paying such duties could retaliate by charging their own duties on U.S. imports. Earlier this month, Canada submitted its final retaliation authorization request to the WTO.

Oct 14, 2004 China has formally thrown its support behind the candidacy of Russia to join the World Trade Organization. President Hu Jintao signed an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly after his arrival in Beijing. Mr. Putin has made WTO membership a priority, as Russia is one of the biggest nations not yet a member. Russia hopes to join next year. But it must first negotiate bilateral trade accords with a number of important trading nations, including the U.S. and Japan. Another topic during Mr. Putin's visit will be China's desire to build a 2,400-kilometre pipeline to convey oil from Siberia to China. China's rapidly industrializing economy is thirsty for oil and natural gas to power it. Last summer, a number of Chinese factories had to shut down for lack of power. Japan, however, is lobbying for a separate pipeline, it too being in great need of energy resources.

Sunday Sep 26, 2004 CHINA China has agreed to support Russia's candidacy for membership in the World Trade Organization. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao made that announcement in Moscow after talks with his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Fradkov. Mr. Wen says the two countries will likely sign a formal accord specifying China's support for Russia's desire to join the WTO next month when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits China. Russia needs to sign a series of bilateral trade accords with WTO members before being able to join the Organization. In May, Russia reached such an accord with the European Union. And on Tuesday, Russia reached an agreement on WTO membership with South Korea during the visit to Moscow by that country's president, Roh Moo-hyun. But the Russians still have to make accords with the U.S. and Japan.

Wednesday Sep 1, 2004 rci OTTAWA: CANADA PLEASED WITH WTO DECISION AGAINST U.S. Canada's trade minister, Jim Peterson, says Canada is happy with a decision by the World Trade Organization with respect to a complaint against the U.S. by Canada and six other WTO members. Mr. Peterson says Canada will consider several retaliatory options against the Americans but won't take any action without public consultations. Canada and its co-plaintiffs had complained about a U.S. trade law passed in 2001. It allows the U.S. to impose punitive tariffs on imports found to be sold in the U.S. at below cost. The amounts of the fines are then paid to the American companies that complained about the imports in the first place. The WTO in a preliminary ruling in 2002 ruled the system was illegal because it punishes exporters twice, firstly by fining them and secondly by turning over the result of the fines to their competitors. The latest WTO ruling on the matter says that Canada and the other complainants can impose retaliatory fines of about 75 per cent on American imports to their countries. The other nations involved in the dispute with the U.S. are Japan, Brazil, Chile, India, South Korea and Mexico

Tuesday Aug 3, 2004 OTTAWA: WTO ACCORD PRESENTS CHALLENGE FOR CANADIAN FARMERS
The Canadian Wheat Board says last weekend's trade accord between Canada and the other 146 members states of the World Trade Organization could pose a challenge to the Board's very existence. The Board says this in turn could threaten the livelihoods of western farmers who have already suffered huge losses because of the mad-cow crisis and several years of drought. The Board controls exports of wheat and barley produced in western Canada. Canada's trade minister, Jim Peterson says that the Board and the agencies in central Canada that manage supplies of Canadian diary products, eggs and poultry were constantly under attack during the WTO negotiations in Geneva and had no allies in trying to defend them. WTO members agreed that they would work to remove U.S. and EU agricultural trade barriers when WTO trade ministers meet for the next round of talks on trade liberalization in Hong Kong at the end of 2005.

Monday Aug 2, 2004 ts
DENIS BALIBOUSE/REUTERS Jim Peterson, Canada's minister of international trade, arrives at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva yesterday. Talks ended with a framework to end farm export subsidies
147 nations back historic trade deal GENEVA—Nearly a year after a revolt by developing nations almost derailed negotiations, Canada, the United States, European Union and other nations agreed early today to eliminate billions of dollars in farm export subsidies and reduce barriers to global trade.

Saturday Jul 31, 2004 The government of Sudan has rejected a resolution by the United Nations Security Council concerning the conflict in its western region of Darfur. The rejection was pronounced in a statement in Khartoum by Sudan's information minister, al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik. He was reacting to the Council's approval of a resolution presented by the U.S. threatening unspecified diplomatic and economic actions unless the Sudanese government disarms the Arab militias that have killed several tens of thousands of black farmers in Darfur. The wording of the resolution did not contain the expression "sanctions." Earlier this week, observers sent to Sudan by the African Union reported that the Arab militias chained an unknown number of villagers in the Darfurian village of Suleia and burned them to death in an attack said to have occurred on July 3.

Saturday Jul 31, 2004 TORONTO: SAUDIS SAID TO FINANCE MUSLIM EXTREMISTS IN CANADA The National Post newspaper reports the Saudi Arabia is directly financing Islamic fundamentalists in Canada. The Post says it discovered the revelation in a report by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. The report cities an official Saudi report that says King Fadh contributed $5 million US for the construction of an Islamic Centre in Toronto, and pays $1.5 million a year for its upkeep. The document also reports that the Saudi ruler paid to build mosques in Calgary, Alta. and the country's capital, Ottawa, as well as an Islamic Centre in Quebec City. The report says the mosques are intended to propagate the doctrines of Wahabism, a fundamentalist form of Islam and represent a threat to the U.S. by fomenting intolerance against Christians, Jews and even other Muslims. One of the report's authors is Richard Clarke, the former anti-terrorism director for the White House.

Saturday Jul 31, 2004 GENEVA: CANADA WANTS BETTER WTO TRADE DOCUMENT
The two Canadian cabinet ministers taking part in the ongoing World Trade Organization negotiations to remove barriers to world trade say they're not satisfied with a draft document aimed at that goal. Representatives of the WTO's 147 member states are negotiating non-stop to try to reach an agreement on a text before a self-set deadline that expires this weekend. Canada is represented at the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, by the country's trade minister, Jim Peterson, and the minister of agriculture, Andy Mitchell. The WTO members are struggling with a text written by the U.S., the EU, Brazil, Australia and India. Mr. Peterson and Mr. Mitchell say the draft has to be improved to further tear down trade barriers affecting goods and services, to cut bureaucratic formalities at borders, to improve the rules regarding anti-dumping and to do more to integrate developing nations in the world economy. The WTO is trying to increase world trade by removing tariffs, subsidies and other barriers impeding that goal. The last attempt by the WTO collapsed at its meeting in Cancun, Mexico, over the issue of agricultural subsidies and tariffs by the governments of the U.S. and EU.

14 June 2004 scidiv
A disappointing summit — again!
Although the problems of the developing world — in particular Africa — were on the agenda at last week's G8 summit meeting, they failed to get the attention that they deserve. Next year, G8 leaders will have an opportunity do better.

Unpicking cotton subsidiesApr 30th 2004

Wednesday 24 Mar 2004 ts
Chumminess is not a substitute for substance Canada`s victory in the softwood lumber dispute at the World Trade Organization this week is likely to be followed soon by a similar finding from a NAFTA dispute-settlement panel. This should pave the way for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. protectionist measures and the return of money seized by the United States in the form of what have now been shown to be illegal trade penalties on Canadian shipments.

Tuesday 23 Mar 2004 cbc
WTO SOFTWOOD RULING 'MAJOR VICTORY,' MINISTER SAYS The U.S. government has no legal grounds for the heavy duties it imposed on Canadian softwood, Canada's trade minister said Monday in reaction to a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling.

Wednesday Feb 2004 cbc
WTO BACKS CANADA IN WHEAT DISPUTE WITH UNITED STATES The Canadian Wheat Board said Tuesday that a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel has cleared it of American accusations of unfair trade practices.

Tuesday Jan 27, 2004 CANADA WANTS TRADE SANCTIONS IMPOSED ON U.S. The European Union and six countries, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, have asked the World Trade Organization for permission to impose trade sanctions against the U.S. The parties want the WTO to grant permission to raise their customs duties on a range of American products. The higher duties would be aimed at punishing the U.S. for maintaining the "Byrd amendment," which enables the U.S. government to pay out some of the revenues it collects for alleged unfair trade practices, such as dumping, to American competitors that complained about them. The WTO ruled the "Byrd amendment" contravenes international trade rules and gave Washington until Dec. 27 to alter it.

2003

Thursday Dec 18, 2003 UNITED STATES
The United States and four Central American nations have reached a tentative free trade accord. The four Central American countries are El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The agreement struck in Washington came after negotiators reached a compromise concerning the U.S. sugar industry. A second compromise was negotiated by which the Americans agreed to allow the import of textiles containing Mexican and Canadian materials, provided the other parties agreed to accept more American products. The free trade accord still has to be approved by the U.S. Congress. The U.S. government has been seeking regional trade agreements since the international trade talks within the framework of the World Trade Organization collapsed in Cancun, Mexico, last September.

Wednesday Oct 22, 2003 bbc
APEC WRAPS UP WITH PROMISES TO FIGHT TERROR World leaders promised to push ahead with freer trade, intensify the fight on terror and clamp down on health threats as an economic summit wrapped up Tuesday.

Wednesday Sep 17, 2003 np
PM & W-N SCOLDS INDUSTRIAL NATIONS ON SUBSIDIES Prime Minister Jean Chrétien criticized industrial nations Tuesday after they failed to reach a deal on reducing farm subsidies.
QUEBEC CITY: CHRÉTIEN SCOLDS RICH COUNTRIES AFTER COLLAPSED WTO TALKS Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has castigated the industrialized world for failing again to reach a deal with developing countries on the difficult issue of farm subsidies. Talks among the 146 member states of the World Trade Organization collapsed last weekend in Cancun, Mexico, when a group of poor nations together demanded a reduction of the agricultural subsidies paid by the U.S. and European Union to their farmers, while many wealthier countries wished to discuss other matters. Mr. Chrétien says it's time for rich nations to wake up to the reality that while we live in a global economy, that economy must contribute to the welfare of all of its members. Mr. Chrétien says the situation has reached the point of absurdity that a cow in a rich country has a higher income than a child in a poor one. Canada also subsidizes its farmers but not nearly to the extent that the U.S. and the EU do. The prime minister also says it's absurd that the developed world gives the undeveloped one $50 billion in aid each year, while spending $350 billion on farm subsidies. Mr. Chrétien says the situation would be better for everyone if wealthy nations demolished the tariff walls which prevent the Third World from selling them its products. He made the remarks in a speech before an international conference of chambers of commerce in Quebec City.

Cancun pressure Watching the protesters' anti-WTO tactics Sunday, 14 September, 2003 see Wed 1123

Monday Sep 15, 2003 ts
WTO TALKS COLLAPSE, DELEGATES SAY World Trade Organization (WTO) talks failed Sunday after rich and poor countries were unable to find common ground on two sets of ideas, delegates said.

Fifth World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico 10 to 14 September will bring together trade ministers from 146 countries for talks The main task will be to take stock of progress in negotiations and other work under the Doha Development Agenda.

Friday Sep 5, 2003 OTTAWA:
SOME CANADIANS OPTIMISTIC ON FARM SUBSIDIES ISSUE, OTHERS NOT
There's uncertainty in Canada about the progress likely to be achieved at the talks among the 146 members of the World Trade Organization. The talks start in Cancun, Mexico, next week. Canadian trade officials said in Ottawa on Thursday they're optimistic that progress can be made on the difficult issue of agricultural subsidies. The officials say that momentum toward a solution was created at the WTO ministerial meeting in Montreal in July. And the sources say even more progress has been made since then. But the trade officials' optimism contrasts with remarks made by their own boss, Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew. He told the Vancouver Board of Trade that while it's true that progress has been made on the farm subsidy issue in recent weeks, there's still a deep division on the question between the U.S. on the one hand and developing nations on the other. Developing nations have expressed frustration with the farm subsidies offered by the world's wealthy governments which they say depress commodity prices in world markets. Poor countries are angry as well with the tariff walls which the rich countries have erected to exclude farm products from the developing world. The U.S. and the European Union are the main targets of such criticism. Canada subsidizes its farmers as well, but not nearly to such an extent as the U.S. and EU.

Monday Sep 1, 2003 bbc
Saudis move closer to WTO
Riyadh signs a landmark trade deal with the European Union, and promises Saudi WTO membership as early as next year.

Sunday Aug 31, 2003 cbc
WTO DRUG DEAL DELAYED The World Trade Organization has postponed a decision on a deal to allow poorer nations to pay less for life-saving medicines.

Friday Aug 29, 2003 bbc WTO to probe Europe's GMO policy The world trade body agrees to examine complaints about EU restrictions on genetically modified organisms.

Wednesday, 27 August, 2003, Adding up farming subsidies
The world's poorer countries lose a total of $24bn (£15.3bn) a year because of the subsidies paid to farmers by rich nations, according to new research by economists in Washington.
The figures are likely to fuel the growing controversy over agricultural trade policies ahead of world trade talks in Cancun next month.

Tuesday Aug 26, 2003 bbc Cool reception for WTO plan
A plan to reform farm subsidies - and break the deadlock in world trade talks - is given a cool reception by the major exporting nations.

Wednesday Jul 30, 2003 MONTREAL: CANADA CLAIMS PROGRESS ON FARM SUBSIDIES The familiar issues of agricultural subsidies and market access dominated the World Trade Organization discussions that ended in Montreal on Wednesday after three days of meetings. Canada's trade minister, Pierre Pettigrew, chaired the informal session involving 25 of his counterparts from industrialized and developing countries. Afterwards, Mr. Pettigrew said that he was encouraged by some new proposals dealing with agriculture. The U.S. indicated it would work to eliminate export subsidies, and the European community proposed reducing domestic farm aid by 60 per cent. Trade in agricultural products is one of the thorniest trade issues facing the WTO. Canada and many developing countries have been calling for the end of multi-billion dollar farm subsidies that they claim depress world prices and limit access to foreign markets. Although the Montreal meeting did not produce a draft text, Mr. Pettigrew said that it fulfilled its goal of identifying issues that require more compromise. The WTO holds an important plenary meeting in Cancun, Mexico, on Sept. 10.

Wednesday Jul 30, 2003 cbc EU, US VOW TO KEEP TALKING ON AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES The United States and the European Union agreed Wednesday to continue working on a solution to the thorny issue of agricultural subsidies.

Tuesday Jul 29, 2003 cbc
AGRICULTURE SUBSIDIES STYMIE WTO TALKS A last-ditch effort will be made today in Montreal to salvage a World Trade Organization initiative to liberalize world trade.

Tuesday Jul 29, 2003 cbc
PROTESTERS RANKS THIN AT WTO MEETING Anti-globalization protesters took to the streets of Montreal on Tuesday, but in fewer numbers than the day before.

Tuesday Jun 24, 2003 SHARM EL-SHEIK:
WTO REPORTS LITTLE PROGRESS FOR NEW TREATY
Trade leaders from around the world ended a two-day meeting in Egypt Sunday with doubts about the chances for a new trade treaty by the end of 2004. The gathering of 29 members of the World Trade Organization, including Canada, failed to find common ground on reducing agricultural subsidies. The ministers said the issue would likely block progress in other areas. Canadian International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said members made little headway -- negotiations are essentially stalled. The Canadian minister said the Europeans have to complete their internal reforms before negotiations can resume. Mr. Pettigrew said he remains concerned about the high levels of subsidies in wheat production by the European Union and the United States. Ministers from European Union countries will meet next week to try to reach an agreement on cutting farm subsidies. France and others are resisting, saying they fear the effects of cuts on small farmers and rural communities.

Monday Jun 23, 2003
	Trade takes centre stage at Jordan Forum Top US trade official Robert Zoellick urges Middle East countries to adopt free trade, at the final day of the World Economic Forum.

Wednesday May 28, 2003 cbc SOLDIERS SUE OTTAWA FOR $60-MILLION About 25 soldiers are suing the federal government. They said on Tuesday they suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and other duty-related illnesses because the Canadian Armed Forces ignored their psychological problems.
see w-n Softwood-Lumber

Friday May 16, 2003 ec
The GM gamble
The United States (with Argentina, Canada and Egypt) is to challenge the European Union's moratorium on genetically modified food at the World Trade Organisation. It contends that blocking imports of American crops has no scientific basis. The move came a week after the EU said that it would impose trade sanctions over America's tax treatment of exporting firms. WTO AUTHORIZES BRAZIL TO RETALIATE AGAINST CANADA
The World Trade Organization has authorized Brazil to impose $248 million of economic sanctions against Canada. The WTO ruled that Brazil was justified in complaining about the Canadian government loans to customers of the Canadian aerospace industry. Brazil had asked the WTO for permission to impose $3 billion worth of sanctions. The dispute stemmed from Ottawa's loans to airlines wishing to buy regional jets manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace of Montreal.

Sunday Feb 23, 2003 WINNIPEG: WHEAT BOARD OBJECTS TO TRADE DRAFT DOCUMENT The Canadian Wheat Board says it dislikes a draft document aimed at facilitating the forthcoming round of world trade talks. The document was discussed at a preparatory meeting in Tokyo last weekend. A spokesman for the Board says it is a typically American approach and would perpetuate the current unlevel playing field in international trade. The Canadian Wheat Board has a monopoly for the export of western wheat and barley, also enjoying a monopoly on domestic sales of those items for human consumption. Senior Canadian officials say the document seems to be an attempt to divert attention from the huge agricultural subsidies paid by the U.S. and the European Union. One official said that if the Canadian Wheat Board should become a subject in international trade talks, it should only be in the context of playing by the same rules as everyone elsewhere with regard to agricultural subsidies. The Board has long been criticized by American farmers as an unfair monopoly. Over the years, they've mounted 10 challenges against it in world trade forums and lost them all. An 11th complaint is before the World Trade Organization.

Friday Feb 21, 2003 rci CALGARY: SECURITY PRICE FOR G-8 SUMMIT IS STIFF The Canadian Press news agency reports that the government had to pay federal police almost $100 million to provide security for last summer's G-8 summit in Canada. CP says the cost of having the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide security for the event at Kananaskis, Alta., near Calgary, was $96.5 million. The money was used for wages, overtime, travel and other expenses connected to the 30-hour event at an isolated resort area. More than 950 RCMP officers provided security to foreign leaders and dignitaries. Fourteen-hundred others were on standby in case of riots by protesters. Stephen Harper, the leader of the opposition Canadian Alliance party, says Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien should have consulted with security experts before selecting the remote area as the site of the G-8 summit. Mr. Harper says the remoteness of the area clearly drove up costs. The federal government still hasn't revealed the total cost of the summit.

Friday Jan 24, 2003 OTTAWA: CANADA OFFERS IDEAS TO IMPROVE WTO
Canada's trade minister, Pierre Pettigrew, says Canada has made several suggestions to improve the workings of the World Trade Organization. Mr. Pettigrew says the recommendations are aimed at making the WTO's operations and decisions more open to the international public. Some of the Canadian suggestions concern the WTO's dispute settlement body. Canada wants its panel and appeal processes to be open to the public. It also wants written submissions to them to be made available when they're submitted. Canada recommends as well that corporate information submitted for dispute settlement be kept confidential.

2002

Sunday 20 October 2002 FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE .doc by Dr. Kimon Vallaskakis & Globalization

Tuesday Dec 24, 2002 OTTAWA: WTO GIVES BRAZIL OKAY TO PUNISH CANADA The World Trade Organization has given Brazil the green light to slap sanctions of almost $400 million on Canada. The decision stems from subsidies Ottawa granted aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. The decision also marks the final chapter of a six-year dispute between Canada and Brazil regarding financial help they provided to their respective aircraft manufacturers. In January, the WTO had upheld a Brazilian complaint over Ottawa granting Bombardier preferential exchange rates to help it land a lucrative contract in the United States.

Saturday Dec 21, 2002 rci MONTREAL:
CANADA WILL RESPECT WTO DAIRY FINDING Canada's trade minister, Pierre Pettigrew, says his country will respect a ruling by the World Trade Organization that the Canadian government illegally subsidizes exports of dairy products. Mr. Pettigrew says he'll consult with the provinces and with the diary industry on how to implement the WTO decision. The WTO was ruling on an appeal of an earlier decision. The organization has confirmed its earlier decision that the Canadian government illegally sets the price of milk. The decision affects $400 million worth a cheese exports by the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The case had been taken to the WTO by the U.S. and New Zealand. New Zealand's trade minister, Jim Sutton, says Canada's export subsidies have been costing his country $35 million US a year.