Goods from India, Brazil and 23 other developing countries will no longer receive US duty-free treatment, the United States Trade Representative's office has said.
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Despite an increase in bilateral trade, Britain's trade sector is losing its market share in India as more and more Indian firms are diversifying their trading partners in Asia and Africa, a new study has said.
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Member states of the WIPO began a comprehensive review of issues relating to the international patent system. Maximiliano Santa Cruz of Chile chaired the meeting, and 85 member states and 24 observer delegations attended it.
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Speaking in Vancouver at the Wall Centre on June 23, 2008, the UN assistant secretary-general for economic development lashed out at a process that many world leaders have touted as a possible solution to skyrocketing food prices.
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According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of food items and oil has more than doubled in the past two years, and market speculation is to be blamed for this escalation in prices of the commodities.
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The world food prices have roughly doubled in the past three years, while witnessing an alarming 85% increase between April 2007 and April 2008, UNCTAD in its report has said.
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India has told WTO chief Pascal Lamy that New Delhi will not remain silent if issues like disclosure of provisions for genetic material, fishery subsidies and services are not resolved satisfactorily.
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WTO members must make “maximum effort” in the next few weeks to ensure that a July ministerial meet could lead to a breakthrough in the Doha Round trade negotiations, WTO chief Lamy has said.
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WTO head Pascal Lamy has called trade ministers to Geneva for one more try to push the Doha Round trade negotiations over the line before the US and Europe change governments.
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A large number of gaps still remain in global trade talks, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said. He added that he hoped trading partners would have moved closer to each other by next month.
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The US may appeal against the clean chit given by a WTO panel to India's additional import duties on foreign wines and spirits. The EU may also revisit a similar case against India which it suspended last year.
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Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has suggested a new formula to contain price spiral. According to him, the government should act in time and see that the prices of cereals in the retail Markets should not cross over 6%.
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Brazil and other developing countries have complained that agriculture proposals at the WTO do not open up markets enough, dimming prospects of a deal being reached this year.
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A bilateral agreement on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cooperation between India and Singapore will be signed soon, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said.
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India, China and other developing nations have told the US and the EU that the developing world will not agree to an anti-concentration proposal that would severely whittle away their flexibilities in Doha package on market-opening for industrial goods.
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According to the World Economic Forum's Global Enabling Trade Report 2008, India has been ranked 71st in global enabling trade index due to tariff barriers and corruption-ridden border administration that oversees flow of goods.
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India’s fight for tightening the Trips Agreement to check bio-piracy is slowly gaining support from more WTO members. Over 100 members want speedy negotiations for disclosure and extension of Geographical Indications as part of the Doha negotiations.
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The WTO may come out with a new revised negotiation text each on agriculture and industrial goods by the end of this month to ensure a successful conclusion to the Doha Round talks.
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As the future of the EU's reform project hangs in balance following Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, doubts are being cast whether Brussels will be able to sell the Doha agreement to its member states.
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Senior trade officials are at last getting to grips with thorny issues involving manufactured goods, the WTO head has told diplomats.
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WTO talks on industrial goods, a crucial element in efforts to seal a new global trade deal, must speed up, European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has said.
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A day after the country's inflation rate hit a 13-year high, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has warned against “panic” and promised more measures to tame prices.
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The WTO Dispute Settlement Body has adopted the reports of the Appellate Body and compliance panel in relation to a dispute brought by Brazil against the US on its subsidies on upland cotton.
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The ambassador overseeing an important area of global free trade talks has said he will leave his post in August, adding pressure on WTO members to settle their issues before he goes.
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India and other developing nations are ready for a deal on the Doha Round of trade negotiations if the US agrees to cut farm subsidies by just one dollar, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said.
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India could be 40 times bigger by 2050, and may also have the potential to be larger than the US by that time. However, to achieve this, India needs to implement many changes, a global research report has said.
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While climate change is already threatening development, livelihoods and the very existence of many developing countries, there is not yet a sense of urgency among governments, said the Group of 77 and China at the closing of the meeting of the group on long-term cooperative action at the UNFCCC.
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WTO head Pascal Lamy now maintains that it is rather early to set the dates for a ministerial meeting to finalise the modalities for reducing agricultural subsidies and import as well as industrial tariffs, trade envoys have said.
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The Committee of Agriculture chairman Crawford Falconer has deferred the next meeting of the agriculture negotiations scheduled later this week. He hopes to hold the meeting in the middle of next week.
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The US has asked India and Brazil, the two developing economies, to bring “more” to the table at Doha by way of “increased responsibility” and “positive contribution”.
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The US and India nudged each other for concessions that may bring a global trade deal, while expressing optimism that a breakthrough may be around the corner.
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As WTO trade talks on cutting farm subsidies and industrial tariffs reach a critical juncture, farm leaders in India have said the country should quit the Doha negotiations if the livelihood concerns of its farmers are not addressed in the Round.
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The US has accused India of working behind the scenes for the demise of the ongoing Doha Round of WTO talks.
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A WTO dispute panel has rejected a complaint brought by the US against India over duties on wines and spirits.
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The Confederation of All India Traders has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make national trade policy to safeguard interests of small traders.
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Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim has said the G20 group of developing nations are not stalling the world trade liberalisation talks, but have put forward proposals to allow negotiations to continue.
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The US and the EU have said the Doha Round of global trade talks could collapse due to stubborn attitude of some big developing countries.
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A delegation from an Indian multinational has visited Islamabad to explore the opportunities of investing in Pakistan.
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A WTO panel has upheld last year's ruling, which said the subsidies helped US cotton farmers undercut foreign competitors.
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World Trade Organisation Director-General Pascal Lamy has said that developed and developing countries could still wrap up the Doha Round of talks on a global trade deal this year.
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The gap in NAMA at the WTO between developed and some key developing countries remains wide. There are a few chances that there can be convergence of views in the next few weeks, going by the reactions of countries to the May 19 draft modalities.
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The ongoing WTO talks will not result in India opening up the legal services sector to foreign companies, Commerce Secretary Gopal Pillai has said.
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India may target 5% of global trade by 2020, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said.
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The UNCTD in its report released at the World Food Summit in Rome, on June 4, said the recent global food crisis is a wake-up call for developing countries and international community and they can convert it into an opportunity to strengthen the global agriculture production.
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The WTO has issued a revised text on the services sector. The short draft is mostly in brackets that indicates areas which need to be negotiated and offers more discussions on areas of interest to developing countries.
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Commerce Secretary GK Pillai has termed the new proposals as too “complicated” and said said that it may be difficult to support a draft World Trade Organisation accord on cutting agriculture subsidies.
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While G20 group of the developing countries, including India, will pay in Doha agriculture negotiations, the gains for farm exporting nations are huge, agriculture trade negotiators have said.
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Europe's farm chief has said the revised negotiating text on agriculture for a world trade deal lacks balance in core areas that prevents progress.
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India has said it is ready for a Ministerial meet of the WTO, but, a lot of work is still need to be done to narrow the differences and converge on the recently issued revised farm and NAMA texts before identifying a safe landing zone.
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The farm loan waiver scheme has been modified by the Finance Minister according to which Farmers with over two hectares will get a one-time settlement rebate of 25%, subject to their paying the balance in three instalments by June 30, 2009.
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The India-US bilateral trade is expected to touch $60 billion in the coming years, an American diplomat has said.
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India has rejected the key proposals in the revised drafts on agriculture and non-agriculture market access circulated at the World Trade Organisation on May 19, 2008.
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The chairs of the agriculture negotiations and the NAMA negotiations at the WTO issued new revised draft negotiating texts on May19, 2008. There aren't basic changes in the two texts from the February drafts.
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The European Commission has asked India to move ahead with its plans to open up its economy to European exports under a planned bilateral trade agreement between the two trade powers.
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The US Congress passed the Farm Bill on May 19. The bill will cast a long shadow over Doha negotiations at a time when WTO delegates are struggling to complete agriculture and NAMA modalities.
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The World Trade Organisation has asked the US to cut trade barriers and increase exports to boost its economy. The trade body added that the US had not fulfilled all its commitments, though it is a strong supporter of the world trading system.
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The UN Commission has reviewed India's position after 17 years and described it as “poor”. The panel also asked India to try harder towards realising civil rights.
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To catch up with China, India is launching a sensatisation, national awareness and consultancy programme in which universities, laboratories, state-level chambers of commerce and industry, patent attorneys and scientific community will also be roped in.
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On may 16, 2008, Ukraine became the 152nd member of the World Trade Organisation. The country began its accession negotiations in 1993.
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India has warned that the development agenda of Doha Round of global trade talks are at the core of the efforts to conclude it by the next few months.
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Indian trade experts have backed WTO chief Pascal Lamy's prognostics that the world food crisis can be resolved through a global trade pact that centers around correcting free market distortions.
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India and Turkey have opposed in World Trade Organisation talks the proposal of some developed countries of making process of determination of special products more transparent.
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It is still possible to reach a deal on long-delayed world trade negotiations before the end of this year, World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy has said.
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India and the US have agreed to settle the contentious issues of farm subsidies and market access under the Doha Round of negotiations for a world trade deal, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has said.
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WTO Members “have only a few weeks, not months” to conclude framework agriculture and industrial goods trade pacts to conclude the Doha Round this year. However, chances are bleak that trade ministers could be gathered in Geneva by May-end to finalise 'modalities' deals.
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An FTA may be concluded between India and the EFTA by early 2009. Apart from trade in industrial and agricultural goods and services, implementation of intellectual property rights regime would be area of focus.
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The fight against climate change should not become the new nuclear non-proliferation treaty, prime minister's special envoy Sham Saran has said.
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Preparations for a “signalling” conference to move forward the services negotiations in the WTO started on May 5, 2008, and members are participating in preparation meets for a round of bilaterals meeting.
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The Government has rejected recent attempts to link trade to climate change and said countries like India would not accept the move if industrialised nations tried to use climate change to restrict trade.
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Inflation rose to 7.57%, 42-month high in mid-April and the finance minister has said the government is prepared to take further steps to tame prices.
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After meeting his 10-member ASEAN counterparts in Bali in Indonesia, trade minister Kamal Nath said that India is close to seal a free trade deal with Southeast Asian countries.
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Interest of India's farmers will not be compromised in the ongoing Doha Round of Trade negotiations, the government has said. It also assured no “trade-offs” for gains in other areas of the negotiations.
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The International Monetary fund has given developing countries a small 2.7% increase in their voting rights, multilateral lending agency's managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has said.
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The negotiations on the proposed FTA between India and the European Free Trade Association would be concluded by year-end, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said.
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India's need to stem inflation has left its neighbours stranded, as countries, including Nepal, facing a severe crisis of essential commodities like rice and cement whose exports have been restricted.
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Trade ministers from India and the US are set to meet next week to discuss ways to achieve a breakthrough in the stalled Doha round of talks.
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The US wants to include labour and environment standards in the proposed bilateral investment pact with India. While India wants to structure the accord similar to agreements that it has with other countries, the US wants to structure it like the investment chapter in the Nafta.
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Countries participating in the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP) have no objection with a line-by-line 20 to 40% cut on tariffs, with the coverage to be at least 70% of their dutiable tariff lines.
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India will provide to the Agreement on South Asia Free Trade Area member countries duty reductions from zero to five per cent within 10 years, MoS for Textiles E V K S Elangovan has said.
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There was a 60% chance that a world trade deal will be struck by the end of the year, Britain’s minister for international trade Gareth Thomas has said.
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A panel of gender experts trade specialists and politicians called for policies to free the poor, women and other marginalised groups from persistent restraints regrading jobs, decision-making, and access to business finance.
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Negotiators from governments across the world have been haggling for over six years over cuts to farm subsidiaries and barriers to agri trade in talks at the WTO.
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The final meeting of the NAMA negotiating group before the issuing of a new modalities draft was held at the WTO on April 14, 2008. The group Chair said differences in opinions were the same as before.
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The TRIPS Council Special Session Chair has said he is making a factual report on the negotiations on a multilateral register for Geographical Indications for wines and spirits for the upcoming “horizontal process” on the Doha Round.
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Italians companies are looking for trade prospects in Indian markets for selling their products like farm implements and machinery and food processing technology. Italy, too, is considering to boost its exports of food products.
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India and Egypt have agreed to cooperate in the areas of agricultural research, extension, cooperatives, agricultural finance and credit, fertilisers, modern irrigation systems, agricultural machinery. They also discussed the probabilities to establish JVs.
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The WTO chief has said long-running talks to open up world trade are closer than ever to conclusion, but the timing of the crucial meeting of ministers to strike the deal remains uncertain.
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China and Pakistan have agreed to improve economic cooperation and enhance bilateral trade. President Musharraf has said the two countries are close to signing another FTA on trade and services.
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The contribution of India to world gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms has been reduced by the International Monetary Fund to 4.6% in 2007 from the earlier 6.4%.
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Russia is keen on increasing bilateral trade with India to $10 billion by 2010 from the current $5 billion, Russian Federation's Ambassador Vyacheslav I Trubnikov has said.
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India's annual rate of inflation touched a 41-month high of 7.41% for the week ended March 29. It was 7% the week before. The reason for this high inflation is higher food and commodities prices.
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India wants the rich countries to massively lower their greenhouse gas emissions and provide more financial and technological help to the developing countries to deal with the climate change problem.
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Because of spiralling global prices and government's move of drastically reducing tariffs on many agricultural items, India's position at the farm talks for negotiations in the WTO may be weakened.
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India has scrapped import duties on several food and other products and banned export of non-basmati rice to boost supply and stem increasing inflation.
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The World Bank has called the growing economies of China, India and Brazil “the new stakeholder” and vowed to come to the rescue of these developing countries “if the credit storm and liquidity drought sweeps their way”.
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South Asia may expect a rise of over six times to $20 billion from only $3 billion at present in its annual trade volume if there is better regional cooperation among countries, a World Bank official has said.
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The World Health Organisation has said that global warming will have “serious and damaging” impact on human health. Air quality will suffer and respiratory diseases will be aggravated.
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Indian herbal market is registering a rapid growth and may hit Rs 14,500 crore by 2012 and exports to Rs 9000 crore with a compound annual growth rate of 20% and 25% respectively, a study says.
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Indian farmers supported by their counterparts from other countries have asked for agrarian reforms for the benefits of small and marginal landowners. They said their farmlands should not be confiscated for SEZs or any industrial use.
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The government is likely to raise the statutory minimum price for sugarcane to over Rs 120 per quintal (Rs 125 a quintal + Rs 30 as bonus) for the 2008-09 season.
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India may finalise a free trade agreement with the the ASEAN within next three months, Commerce and Industry Ministry Kamal Nath has said. Only a “few things” still needed to be looked into before a deal is struck with the ASEAN, he added.
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The first formal talks for the replacement of the Kyoto climate change agreement held recently in Bangkok closed with plans for another seven rounds of negotiations in the next 18 months to tackle global warming.
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A CII survey has said that exports from India may touch $200 billion by 2009, maintaining the annual growth of 20% for the period of 2004-09. Stability without any mid-term policy changes will make it happen, the polled CEOs said.
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UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi recently met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and addressed a meeting. They also discussed UNCTAD’s work and mission on preparedness for UNCTAD XII, to be held from April 20-25 in Accra, Ghana.
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The economy of Pakistan may collapse in spite of the impressive domestic growth in the country, the World Bank has said. Bank’s officials say that Pakistan must take immediate action to prevent an economic collapse.
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India has termed the attitude of the World Trade Organisation as discriminatory towards allowing the sale of Indian whisky abroad. The government is in the process of negotiating the issue with the WTO and it would be resolved soon.
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Pakistan has invited India to finalise the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora is likely to visit the neighbouring country next month to seal the IPI deal at the earliest.
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The Union Cabinet has approved duty-free import of eight million pieces of garments annually from Bangladesh, MoS for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has said. Import of six million pieces would be duty-free and a preferential duty levied on the remaining.
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New Zealand is looking forward to negotiating a free trade agreement with India and it attempts to augment trade in areas, including forestry, milk products and horticulture, New Zealand’s Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Bio-security and Fisheries Jim Anderston has said.
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The government should be “cautious” before inking a free trade pact with China, as the tariff cuts will lead to the Chinese products flooding Indian markets. The government should not finalise the FTA in the next five years, Assocham’s study on “India’s FTA and the Indian Industry” has suggested.
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Though the occasion was World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s focus of address was increasing water crises. “A shortage of water resources could spell increased conflicts in the future,” he said.
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Developing countries have asked the WIPO to adopt a work plan to scrutinise “limitations and exceptions” to copyright, which would help establish a “consensus” on mandatory minimum levels of L&E for member states.
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Most of the World Trade organization members are ready to support the proposal to amend WTO’s TRIPS Agreement and include a disclosure requirement for patents applications relating to genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
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India has opposed the proposals of chair for Doha negotiations on market access to choose between the coefficients to be used in the formula to reduce industrial tariffs and the degree of flexibilities they can avail of to shield certain industrial products from the formula cuts.
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Key members of the WTO remained divided over how to conduct negotiations on the difficult issues in the Doha trade talks ahead of the ministerial meeting.
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India wants to conclude deals worth $10 billion with African states during a high-level three-day business conclave to be held in new Delhi from march 19.
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India has been excluded from a two-day meeting of the Group of Four, of which India is also part. The meet is to forge an agreement on the Doha trade negotiations in London. Other three countries are the EU, the US and Brazil.
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The government is looking at options to help exporters hit by a rise in rupee value, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said. He admitted that the annual export target of $160 billion could not be achieved this year.
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The Horizontal Process under WTO Doha talks has been deferred from the listed date of March 17 to sometime after Easter. Chances are that the process could be held anytime after March 23.
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The EU is not in a hurry to conclude free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India this year, EU officials have said.
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India announced pruning of its negative list from 744 items to 500 items for the least developed SAARC members. The move will enhance the scope of duty-free entry to the exports items from the countries like Bangladesh, etc.
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The USTR report has said the bilateral trade between India and the US is expanding, but there are challenges as well that American investors continue to face as India opens its market.
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Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s Budget 2008 includes something for everyone including agri loan waiver to farmers, increased income tax exemptions, and reduced auto prices for middle-class families. Also there in the budget are some unanswered questions, ‘which may spell trouble for this or the next government’.
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India has urged for more cooperation from the SAARC members in research and development in agriculture to meet the region’s ever-growing foodgrain demands.
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The number of patents filed under the World Intellectual Property Organisation Patent Cooperation Treaty rose to 156,100 by 4.7% in 2007, according to the WIPO. The number of patents filed from India plummeted by 17.45%, from 831 in 2006 to 686 in 2007.
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The US offers more temporary entry visas for Indian professionals if India agrees to provide US banks and other service companies increased access to its fast growing market.
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Talks between India and the US are under way on whether to negotiate a bilateral investment pact as part of ongoing efforts to enhance economic ties. But for now, the two countries have decided to hold another round of talks before moving ahead.
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The revised NAMA text has come under strong criticism from trade unions from NAMA-11 developing countries, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. The range of coefficients in the Swiss formula for developing countries is their bone of contention.
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President Bush may have difficulty to obtain a Presidential “fast track trade authority” raising serious doubts about the status and value of negotiating positions of the US in the World Trade Organisation.
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It is too early for the US to think about a free trade agreement with India and right now it is difficult for India to do such an accord, United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab has said.
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British Columbia is setting up its trade office in India to promote business in the world’s second fastest growing country. After Ontario, BC will be the second Canadian province to do so.
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While speaking at the 80th FICCI Annual General Meeting, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said that India may finalise free trade agreements with the major economies in the region in a year.
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External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim signed three agreements with Brazil covering infrastructure, poverty alleviation and sports. They also discussed a host of bilateral, regional and global issues.
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Speaking at the inauguration of the 80th annual meeting of the FICCI, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was confident that the India economy would grow at 9% and inflation can be contained at acceptable levels.
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India is considering the BIPA-like agreement with the US to increase bilateral investments between the two countries. The US wants pre-investment national treatment for its investors, but India does not want to give same treatment to US investors as to Indian ones.
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Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s caretaker Government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, has requested the Group of Eight (G-8) developed nations to grant access to their markets for all products from Least Developed Countries.
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India is constructing a new Trade and Exhibition Centre in Sharjah to promote trade and business in the Middle East and North Africa markets. The Commerce Ministry has given a green signal regarding this.
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India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said the government may set the export target for the next fiscal to around $200 billion. But, the precise target may be announced by March-end.
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Trade between India and the UK may reach $60 billion by 2020, British High Commissioner in India Sir Richard Stagg has said. The Indian economy has been witnessing a sharp growth and the UK is interested in establishing strong business ties.
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China has offered to build a pipeline to transport gas out of Iran gas, if India decides to withdraw from the multi-million dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, media reports in Pakistan have said.
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India’s MoS for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has informed that Indian business houses’ investments of $2 billion in Sri Lanka are under discussion. He is leading a business delegation in the island country.
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India’s wait for a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the 27-bloc European Union gets longer as differences have arisen over the items which would not be covered in the pact.
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The WTO has released the revised draft negotiating texts of the agriculture and NAMA negotiations. Trade body’s head Pascal Lamy said these documents are a step forward towards the launch of a vital new stage in the Doha Round talks.
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A latest survey by FICCI has said trade between India and Russia may witness an increase of over five times, to the tune of US $20 billion, by 2015, if hurdles like procedural issues are addressed.
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After reaching an agreement on a series of conditions with the EU, the WTO has approved the membership accession of Ukraine, which was signed by trade body’s head Lamy and Ukrainian President Yushchenko at a Geneva meet.
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India’s Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh would visit Sri Lanka to enhance trade relations between the two countries. An investment delegation will hold discussions with the Sri Lankan Government on trade opportunities for Indian firms.
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Citing the example of developing countries attracting foreign investments through their liberal policies, WTO chief Pascal Lamy suggested major economies to use Doha Round of global trade talks to boost confidence of world business.
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After the presidential elections, the US may change its foreign and trade policies. It would not follow market-oriented policies, become more protectionist in trade and go slow in its future bilateral and free trade agreements with other countries.
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US President George Bush has warned of vetoing the farm bill that proposes raised taxes and doesn’t cut subsidies given to richer farmers. The bill, according to administration officials, lacks reforms, spends too much money and raises tax.
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A WTO dispute settlement panel has dismissed a complaint by the US against India over the import duties on wine and spirits. The panel supported India that the excise duties levied by the US on foreign liquors were not cross-border measures.
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The Government of India is trying to accelerate free trade among the SAARC members. It wants to finish the ground preparations before SAARC summit in March when commerce ministers of these countries meet to enhance the investments and trade across the region.
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For the integration of the South Asian region, the World Bank has initiated steps to bring the nations on a common platform and fund their projects on trade, water management, energy and infrastructure.
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Trade relationship between India and United States has reached at new heights. In 2006-07, bilateral trade between India and USA touched $50 billion. US Exports grew by about 75% with FDI volume of $850 million. This positive trend in trade relationship between two countries is expected to grow in the year 2008.
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Factors such as multilateralism or bilateralism or regionalism have become the primary reasons behind dilemma in Nepal’s trade policy. As a solution to the problem of inadequate trade diversification, experts have emphasized on increasing number of bilateral trade agreements with the European and Asian nations.
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Swiss Economics Minister Doris Leuthard, who hosted an informal lunch meeting on the sidelines of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said it was the high time that they should conclude the Doha Round in 2008 itself.
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Speaking at a session India’s International Agenda in Davos, Switzerland, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath informed the global leaders that India is exploring possibilities for trade and economic cooperation with China -- an emerging trade partner.
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India’s top BPO Companies are showing interest for expanding business in Sri Lanka, as the country possesses trained manpower. Both WNS and HDPI have already set up centers in Sri Lanka and operating since 2004. HDPI, which is the offshore captive of HSBC, has become the largest BPO Company of Sri Lanka. Also the third party vendors of Indian BPO Industry are trying to set up delivery centers in Sri Lanka in order to generate excess capacity for their business.
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Detection of the H5N1 bird flu virus in the western part of India has incurred a huge loss on largest producers and exporters of poultry products in the country. Culling of 500,000 birds has already taken place in the Navapur town where this virus was first detected. India suffered a lot in its export of poultry products following the ban of the same in countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. Government of India has also restricted movements of poultry products out of West Bengal.
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The Asian Development Bank has undertaken a project that will improve transport network in South Asian region by promoting trade and commerce as an important indicator of economic development. The Bank in collaboration with Japan will assist Nepal for preparing a project that will increase quality of air transport services on the one hand, and will develop rural transport infrastructure in the poorest districts in Sri Lanka on the other. From time to time bank’s funding on development projects in South Asia has helped a lot in reducing poverty and improving quality of life across the region.
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The China-ASEAN Business Council has said that trade between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China touched US $202.6 billion-mark in 2007. It is an increase of 25.9% from the last years.
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Citing the World Bank’s premier annual compilation of data about development, new SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Tariq Sayeed says that the intra-regional trade figures for South Asia are the lowest in the world.
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Bangladesh High Commissioner Yasmeen Murshad has said that there is scope for Pakistani traders in Bangladesh where they can explore country’s potential in various economic areas including jute and rice.
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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on January 14, 208, promised to strengthen trade, economic and military ties. India tried to put pressure on china on the issue of growing trading gap.
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China’s Assistant Minister of Commerce Chen Jian, while speaking at the China-India Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation Summit in Beijing on January 14, 2008, has said that buying mission will be sent to India to boost imports by the Chinese government.
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Pakistan is planning a trade fair in India to boost bilateral economic ties that has been held hostage to various trade barriers and past hostilities between the two neighboursing countries.
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Sri Lanka has decided to halt export of pepper under the indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement as India has enforced of a cap of 2,500 tonnes a year.
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Key trade ministers are likely to meet and review the Doha round of trade talks in Switzerland on January 26, 208. Some of the major issues holding up a deal in the talks, launched at the end of 2001 to support world trade, are expected to be discussed.
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The United Nations in its report said that it expects healthy growth in Asia-Pacific economies in 2008. The report adds that a slump in the US can cause problems for the region.
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In November 2007, the GDP of South Asia was 8.4%, a little less than what it was in November 2006. But the region manages to continue with the momentum of recent fiscal and business-oriented reforms.
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The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a report on January 8, 2008 in which it said that mining and energy industries are likely to witness increased foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2008.
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Iran’s Ambassdor to Pakistan has said that Pakistan and Iran will finalise an agreement on a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project that also involves India by January 25 this year.
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Trade officials from across South Asia gathered in Kathmandu on January 7-8 2008 to discuss non-tariff barriers (NTBs) under the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework. The meeting was organized to push forward negotiations on the issues that still keep trade from flowing unhindered within the SAARC region.
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Along the lines of SAFTA agreement reached during SAARC Summit at Islamabad in January 2006, the Government of India has undertaken significant import duty reductions effective from January 1, 2008. As per the agreement, duties on more than 4,800 items of import from the South Asian Countries have been reduced.
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The death of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has badly affected the export of wheat to Afghanistan. Adding to the woes of the Afghanistan Government, prices of the food grains are also rising in the international market.
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Approximately $2 billion rise in trade deficits in India during November 2007 has been attributed by economists to the lack of growth momentum in exports due to the rising rupee on the one hand and increase in imports on the other.
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Through an investment forum being organised in Beijing, Sri Lanka tried to project itself as a profitable investment destination. The Sri Lankan Embassy organised the event on December 28, 2007, to attract substantial amount of FDI from China.
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India vetoes a proposal by developing countries to adopt the draft modalities on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), issued by the market access Chair in July 2007.
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The eighth India-European Union summit in New Delhi, on November 30, 2007, saw leaders from both sides calling for successful completion of bilateral and multilateral trade talks and pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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A study commissioned by the UN agency International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), estimates that remittances -- the portion of migrants’ earnings sent back to their families -- reach 10% of the world’s population, most of it in the developing world.
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The UNDP’s annual Human Development Report on the theme of climate change requires developing countries too to undertake emission cuts, as poor countries will be the most severely affected by global warming.
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Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) cause job losses and erode labour standards, says a campaign mounted by US labour activists who want Congress to put a moratorium on FTAs.
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The Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Pakistan and Mauritius, effective November 30, 2007, includes margins of preferences on existing tariffs on several goods.
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The government of Bangladesh has formed two taskforces to assess and lobby a new US trade bill introduced in the Senate in October.
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Major sugar-exporting countries have approached the WTO to examine alleged subsidies the India government pays to its sugar exporters.
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British premier Gordon Brown told reporters during the Commonwealth heads of state meeting in Kampala that global trade talks could be clinched by January 2008.
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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a number of cooperative measures between his country and the 10-member ASEAN bloc with whom India is negotiating a free trade agreement, during the 6th India-ASEAN summit in Singapore on November 21, 2007.
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Brazil and Peru suggested at the WTO’s Committee on Trade and Environment that biofuels and organic food products should be considered ‘environmental goods’ subject to tariff cuts or elimination in the Doha Round.
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Negotiators are unlikely to reach an agreement on the India-ASEAN free trade agreement in time for the ASEAN summit in Singapore, on November 17-20, 2007.
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India’s commerce minister Kamal Nath has slammed some European NGOs, which have in recent campaigns accused Indian industries of violating human rights and labour laws.
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An EU proposal to make it mandatory by 2020 for 10% of all member states’ transport fuels to come from bio fuels threatens to force poor people in developing countries from their land and destroy their livelihoods, Oxfam warns
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Speaking in New Delhi on October 31, 2007, India’s commerce minister Kamal Nath expressed confidence that the Doha Round will be concluded soon.
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A visa row marred the start of talks between New Zealand and India officials on initiating a free trade agreement between the two countries.
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After months of wrangling the European Parliament endorsed on October 24, 2007 an amendment to Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) rules, to ease poor countries' access to essential medicines
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WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has warned that negotiations in October-November 2007 probably represent governments' "last chance” to move the Doha Round to a successful conclusion.
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In a departure from the past, the World Bank’s latest World Development Report advocates a new ‘agriculture for development’ agenda.
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Two new papers on TRIPS and biological diversity and TRIPS are among the issues on the agenda at the October 23, 2007, meeting.
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Impact of trade policies on Pakistan’s market access to the EU, Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), anti-dumping duty, fisheries, and rice patent were among the issues discussed during the second meeting of the European Commission-Pakistan Sub-Group on Trade, in Geneva.
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Handicrafts and horticultural products from the Indian state of Kashmir will be exported to Pakistan as the governments of India and Pakistan allow trade across the LoC.
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In its second ‘World Economic Outlook’ report this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a champion of gobalisation and liberalisation, says technology and foreign investment could be worsening income inequality in many parts of the world.
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Canada has become the first country to notify the WTO that it will manufacture and export an HIV drug to Rwanda under compulsory licence, as agreed to under TRIPS.
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The US is still paying billions of dollars in subsidies to its cotton farmers, despite having lost a WTO case against Brazil in 2005, says Oxfam.
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India will extend a credit line of $ 250 million and $ 100 million worth of agricultural and industrial supplies for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as part of forging closer economic and other ties with the region.
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A report by the premier Indian business body, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) says that a full-blown free trade agreement with China is way ahead of its time.
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Leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa (IBSA), meeting in Pretoria for a summit, on October 17, 2007, called for a more equitable deal in agriculture and industrial goods.
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The United States has been complaining about China’s copyright and censorship laws and has taken the matter up with the WTO disputes settlement body.
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A new proposal on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) submitted by four groups of developing countries at a meeting of the WTO General Council on October 9, 2007, has been called “a formula for failure” by the United States.
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Bangladesh’s apex garment manufacturing and export body blames political turmoil and labour unrest for the 24% decline in the country’s crucial garment exports.
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In his address to the 7th Public Forum, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said civil society organisations had made useful contributions to WTO negotiations.
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Recognising the importance to trade of quick transit of goods, Bangladesh has been engaging in a number of regional transit agreements.
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The opening of a land route between India and Pakistan, on October 1, 2007, is expected to boost trade between the two countries by substantially cutting down transit time and therefore costs.
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India’s two top WTO negotiators, on a visit to the United States, expressed their belief that the Doha round of WTO talks would reach fruition by 2008.
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WTO Director General Pascal Lamy outlined three major issues -- national vision, financing, and private sector participation -- to take the aid-for-trade initiative forward.
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The Kenyan parliament has voted against amendments to a national law that would have resulted in stopping the government from issuing compulsory licences for cheap medicines.
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Bangladesh and India signed an MoU that will allow Bangladesh to export $ 40 million worth of duty-free garments to India under SAFTA.
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Despite criticism from the US that India’s phytosanitary norms for imported wheat are too harsh, an Indian ministerial committee has decreed that lowering the norms would increase the risk of weeds and seeds infecting Indian fields.
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The Indian |
