JAPAN TO HOST MINI-MINISTERIAL IN FEBRUARY

Japan's Foreign Minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, announced on 19 November that the country would host another informal ministerial meeting in Tokyo before the Cancun Ministerial in September. The 25 trade ministers that attended the 'mini-ministeria' held in Australia on 14 and 15 November (see BRIDGES Weekly, 20 November 2002) will be invited to attend the meeting in Japan. Issues that will be discussed during the meeting will primarily focus on the farm trade talks, which are reaching their deadline under the Doha round of negotiations. Japan also desires to talk with agriculture-exporting Cairns group countries, such as Canada and Australia, concerning the stalemate in their agriculture negotiations. According to the Doha Ministerial Declaration, "modalities for the further commitments, including provisions for special and differential treatment, shall be established no later than 31 March 2003". The deadline for non-agricultural products is May. Japan is tentatively planning on holding the meeting on 15 and 16 February.

"Japan To Host Informal WTO Talks In Tokyo In Feb," KYODO, 25 November.

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CANADA ET AL. REQUEST WTO WAIVER FOR DIAMOND CERTIFICATION

On 22 November during the meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods, Canada put forward a proposal co-sponsored by Sierra Leone, Thailand, Japan, the UAE, Brazil, the Philippines and Australia for a WTO waiver relating to the Kimberley Process establishing a certification process preventing trade in conflict diamonds. Specifically, the request looks to institute "a waiver from the provisions of Article I: 1, Article XI: 1 and Article XIII: 1 of the GATT 1994 [that] will lend legal certainty to the relationship between those measures and the GATT 1994". One source noted that the request led to " a positive initial discussion" in the meeting and was supported by more than eight Members. However, Members were in general agreement that additional time was required to examine the details of the proposed waiver in capitals. The Chair requested Canada to undertake consultations on the issue, and it was decided that the Council would revert to the item during the next meeting at the end of January. The Kimberly Process Participants in the Interlaken Declaration of 5 November plan to formulate and international system of rough diamond certification, with the hope of breaking the connection between armed conflict and the trade of rough diamonds.

The communications requesting a waiver are contained in G/C/W/431 and G/C/W/431/Corr.1., searchable at http://docsonline.wto.org/.

ICTSD Reporting.

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