Developing Countries Present Views On Environmental Goods	Developing countries put forward their views on how best to liberalise trade in environmental goods at an informal technical session of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session (CTE-SS) on 12-13 June. Three documents from India, Colombia and a group of developing countries set out their objections to the list approach and their preferred approaches to the mandate under paragraph 31(iii) of the Doha Declaration to negotiate on the "reduction or, as appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services". more
Brazil Files First Submission In WTO Retreaded Tyres Case	On 8 June, Brazil filed its first written submission with the WTO in a dispute with the EU concerning trade in retreated tyres. In its submission, Brazil responded to allegations made in the EU's first submission, which was confidentially submitted to the WTO in April. The WTO created a dispute settlement panel on 20 January 2006 regarding an EU claim that a Brazilian import ban on retreaded and used tyres, associated fines, the exemption of Mercosur countries from these measures and a domestic prohibition on the marketing of imported retreaded tyres were WTO inconsistent. In its response, which was made publicly available, Brazil did not deny the WTO inconsistency of the targeted measures and the EU allegation of a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) violation, but rather tried to make a defence of the measures under the Agreement's Article XX "exemption" clause (See Bridges Trade BioRes, 3 February 2006). more
Discussions On CBD-TRIPS Gain Momentum With New Proposals	Advocates of amending the WTO Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to include a mandatory 'disclosure requirement' submitted two concrete proposals to amend the agreement in the first two weeks of June. Both a submission from a group of developing countries and a proposal from Norway propose an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement that would require patent applicants to disclose the country providing genetic resources used in the invention and, if the providing country has legislation requiring prior informed consent (PIC) for access to those resources, evidence of such consent. The developing country submission also called for evidence of benefit-sharing to be included as a requirement on patent applicants. At informal consultations held on the proposals, Members including the US, Japan and Canada insisted that in light of the substantial differences on what approach to take, it was too early to start negotiating on a specific text. more
Developing Countries Say REACH Could Have "Grave Consequences"	Thirteen of the EU's leading trade partners, including several developing countries, issued a statement on 8 June urging Brussels to modify the proposed Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation to reduce its "potentially disruptive impact on international trade" and "grave consequences on developing economies". The joint press statement from the missions to the EU of India, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Chile, Israel, Korea, Malaysia, Australia, Japan and the US came at the end of a meeting hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham-EU) in Brussels, Belgium on the impact of the draft chemicals regulation on international trade flows. The legislation has gone through a first reading in the European Parliament and a vote in the Council of Ministers (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 25 November 2005). more

In Brief

US Government Sued for Allegedly Importing Illegally Logged Mahogany EU, Sao Tome And Principle Sign Fisheries Agreement India Files Request For WTO Consultations With The US On Shrimp Taro Patents To Be Given Back To Hawaii's Indigenous People

Events    &   Resources
Events	2 June - 1 August, Global: EUROPEAN COMMISSION ONLINE CONSULTATION ON THE REVISION OF THE NOVEL FOODS REGULATION. This consultation aims to gather input from the general public, stakeholders and Member States in order to carry out an impact assessment for a future legislative proposal to revise the current Novel Food Regulation. The Commission is seeking feedback on how to take into account, for example, particular needs of traditional exotic food from third countries and which is adjusted to applications which cover several food uses. For background information visit http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biotechnology/novelfood/nfia_expl_doc.pdf and to join the consultation visit http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/dyna/enews/enews.cfm?al_id=241
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Resources	TRADE AND MARKETPLACE MEASURES TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE FISHING PRACTICES. By Cathy Roheim and Jon G. Sutinen (ICTSD, May 2006). This report examines the current range of trade and marketplace measures being used by individual states, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), the fishing industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reinforce international fisheries conservation and management provisions, achieve fisheries management and sustainability objectives and minimize illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. These measures take the form of various policies and practices to monitor and track seafood products from the time the fish are caught to when they are sold to final consumers, including border controls that allow countries or territories to regulate, restrict or prohibit trade in these products.
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ISSN 1682-0843