VENEZUELA TO FULLY JOIN MERCOSUR, ABANDON ANDEAN BLOC?

Venezuela is set to become the fifth full member of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). However, before its membership in the South American trade bloc can be formalised in December, Caracas will have to reform customs duties to meet Mercosur requirements.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez broke the news at a 16 October summit in Spain, announcing that "Venezuela will go to the next Mercosur summit in December as a full member." Uruguayan Foreign Minister Reynaldo Gargano, who currently occupies Mercosur's rotating presidency, confirmed Chavez's announcement, saying that Venezuela's application had the unanimous support Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, the four members of the trade bloc.

Currently the world's fifth-largest exporter of oil, Venezuela believes that membership in Mercosur will place it in a prime position to boost its supply of energy to South America. Chavez has been actively seeking new markets for the country's oil and natural gas exports in an attempt to reduce its dependency on the US, which currently imports two-thirds of Venezuela's oil production.

Venezuela's accession to Mercosur is complicated by its full membership in the Andean Community (CAN), a separate regional alliance comprised of Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. Both Mercosur and CAN are working towards establishing customs unions, which would require members of each trade bloc to establish a common external tariff. As it is not possible for countries to be members of two separate customs unions, it is unclear what Venezuela's accession means for its future with CAN.

Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Roger Figueroa acknowledged that Venezuela would have to choose between abandoning CAN customs duties and joining Mercosur, though his preference would be for the two blocs to move closer on external tariffs.

"Venezuela to Join Mercosur, Expanding South America Trade Group," BLOOMBERG, 16 October 2005; "Venezuela to Become Full Member of Mercosur-Chavez," REUTERS, 16 October 2005; "Venezuela to Fully Join Mercosur," BBC NEWS, 17 October 2005; "Venezuela's Full Mercosur Membership to Require Special Arrangements - Official," AFX NEWS, 17 October 2005.

OIL, BRETTON WOODS REFORMS DOMINATE G20 TALKS

Fears over the possible long-term impacts of soaring oil prices dominated discussions at the latest meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) industrialised and developing nations -- not to be confused with the WTO bloc of major developing countries. Participants at the October meeting in Xianghe, China called for more concrete commitments on trade liberalisation and made progress in advancing an agenda for increasing the influence of developing countries over international financial institutions.

At the end of the summit, representatives from the G20 -- whose membership includes finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Eight industrialised nations and key developing country economies such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa -- issued a statement expressing deep concern that "long-lasting high and volatile oil prices could increase inflationary pressures, slow down growth and cause instability in the global economy."

The G20 statement also called for meaningful farm subsidy reduction, urging "all parties concerned to provide the necessary political impetus to promote trade liberalisation, fight protectionism, and make real progress at the [December] WTO Ministerial Conference."

The meeting established a roadmap for global economic reform geared at providing developing countries with a more influential relationship with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The plan seeks to reform the 60-year old Bretton Woods institutions, which have been criticised for lacking transparency, serving the interests of developed countries, and exacerbating economic crises in the South.

"Oil Dominates G20 Talks as Yuan Takes Back Seat," REUTERS, 16 October 2005; "G20 Nations Agree Emerging Markets Need Bigger Say in IMF, World Bank," AFX NEWS, 16 October 2005; "G20 Meeting Reflects Shift in World Economic Balance," TODAY ONLINE, 17 October 2005; "G20 Nations Demand Freeing Up World Trade," THE INDIAN EXPRESS, 17 October 2005.

CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS ADOPT 'DHAKA DECLARATION' ON LDC INTERESTS IN DOHA ROUND

Civil society groups called on rich countries to grant least-developed country (LDC) exports duty-free and quota-free market access through the WTO, following a 3-5 October seminar in Dhaka on how to advance LDC interests at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December. They also asked "developing countries in a position to do so" to provide non-reciprocal tariff- and quota-free market access to LDC agricultural and industrial products.

Expressing concern about the "continuing marginalisation of LDCs" in global trade fora, the forum's "Dhaka Declaration" exhorted developed countries to mitigate the effects of preference erosion by creating a fund to help LDCs with adjustment costs, and to relax their rules of origin requirements in ways that would improve LDCs' ability to take advantage of open market access. With regard to services, it rejected the benchmark concept and demanded expanded temporary international movement of LDC service providers, particularly lower-skilled workers. Notably, it also called for LDC exports to be completely exempt from WTO trade remedies.

Participants called for a phase-out to market-distorting farm subsidies -- particularly to cotton -- coupled with action to help net food-importing LDCs. Furthermore, they suggested that it should be mandatory for rich countries to provide special and differential treatment to developing countries. The forum stressed LDCs' need for greater trade-related capacity building, including supply-side assistance, and asked developed countries to allocate 0.15 percent of national income to overseas aid to LDCs.

Dhaka-based think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue organised the seminar, which was attended by representatives from Bangladeshi non-governmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions, business organisations, and women's groups as well as international NGOs such as Oxfam International and Action Aid.

The declaration is available at http://www.cpd-bangladesh.org/dclfnl.pdf.

ICTSD reporting.

ADELPHI CHARTER LAUNCHED ON CREATIVITY, INNOVATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

A commission of artists, scientists, lawyers, politicians, academics and business experts has developed a new set of guiding principles for copyright and patent rules that they claim would serve as a fairer and more efficient basis for protecting intellectual property and spurring innovation in the 21st Century. The principles, officially launched on 13 October at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce in London, are now referred to as the Adelphi Charter.

The Charter seeks to remind policymakers that the original purpose of intellectual property (IP) law was to "...ensure both the sharing of knowledge and the rewarding of innovation..." The Charter emphasises the importance of striking an appropriate balance between private rights and the public interest, challenging those who design IP laws to step back from the presumption that the expansion of IP protection is naturally a positive thing. Citing the general absence of conclusive proof that stronger IP protection is correlated with increased innovation, commission member James Boyle recently described IP policy as an "evidence-free zone," writing in the Guardian that "policy should be evidence-based."

The Adelphi Charter will now be presented to IP negotiators at permanent missions in Geneva.

Additional information on the Adelphi Charter is available at http://www.adelphicharter.org.

"Protecting the public domain," THE GUARDIAN, 14 October 2005; "Free ideas," THE ECONOMIST, 13 October 2005; "IP Charter With 'Public Interest Checklist' For Governments Launched," INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WATCH, 19 October 2005.