WTO: Doha Round Going Into Hibernation?	Key diplomats at the WTO have proposed new compromise texts as a last-ditch effort to salvage the flagging Doha Round. These texts, written in the personal capacity of the chairs of the negotiating groups on agriculture and industrial tariffs, were put forth after Members failed to bridge the gaps in these key areas themselves. The Doha Round, which was launched in Qatar in 2001, has missed numerous deadlines, and member governments are now expected to mull over the new texts during August, a month when activities in Geneva traditionally shut down for a summer break. more
Codex Adopts New Food Safety Standards	The annual meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission -- the UN body charged with setting international standards related to food safety -- took place for the thirtieth time from 2-7 July in Rome, Italy. Delegates adopted 44 new and amended food standards, agreeing, among other things, to undertake new work to develop guidance on safety assessment in situations of accidental presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They also approved draft risk analysis principles on pesticide residues and draft principles to guide government policy on risk analysis for food safety. more
WIPO Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge Keeps Talking	After over six years of discussions, members of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) remain divided on whether to create a new binding international treaty to protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folklore against misappropriation, agreeing only to keep talking. The eleventh session of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) met from 3-12 July in Geneva. This was in theory supposed to be the committee's last session and was mandated to produce recommendations to WIPO's annual General Assembly in September on how to address the issue. more
No Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies Before Summer Break	Convergence on fisheries subsidy disciplines continued to elude delegates to the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules at the committee's last gathering before the global trade body's annual August break. Discussions at the 10 July meeting focused on two new proposals on special and differential treatment (S&DT) for developing countries, and artisanal and small-scale fisheries. The papers, from Indonesia and Brazil, followed appeals by the chair for a clearer definition of these issues, which Members have struggled to outline over recent months. more

In Brief

CTE: No Movement Until Progress on Ag, Industrial Market Access China Calls on Companies to Practise Sustainable Forestry Biodiversity Meeting Announces New Programme, Partnership WTO Review: Illegal Logging Continues to Plague Indonesia

Events    &   Resources
Events	26-29 July, Ravello, Italy: 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGIES: NEW FRONTIERS AND PRODUCTS - ECONOMICS, POLICIES AND SCIENCE. The International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research (ICABR) will convene the conference, focusing on thirteen topics. These include the impact of agricultural biotechnology on international trade, biofuels, public acceptance, biotechnology and developing countries, and regulation of biotechnology. internet: http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/conferenze/icabr2007/call_for_paper.asp
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Resources	MARKET MECHANISMS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: HOW DO THEY FIT IN THE VARIOUS POST-2012 SCENARIOS? By Aaron Cosbey, Deborah Murphy, and John Drexhage. International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), July 2007. This paper examines ways in which a Clean Development Mechanism-like scheme might fit into the various proposed post-2012 climate change regime possibilities. Given the near-universal desire to see such a mechanism continue past the first Kyoto commitment period, the paper also asks what the realities of a market mechanism for sustainable development might imply for the nature of the regime. The report is available at http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/market_mechanisms.pdf.
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