BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest

Lead Stories
LAST ROLL OF THE DICE FOR THE DOHA ROUND?	Trade diplomats from around the world have returned to the bargaining table after a month-long holiday in an attempt to salvage a compromise in the Doha Round of global trade talks. Prospects for a WTO accord remain dim, with officials pointing to wide gaps on tariff and subsidy cuts compounded by an inauspicious political climate in Washington.
EU APPEALS WTO RULING IN RETREADED TYRE DISPUTE WITH BRAZIL	The EU has formally appealed a WTO ruling against Brazil's import restrictions on retreaded tyres, taking the unusual step of challenging a decision in which it was nominally victorious. Brussels is complaining that the dispute panel "disregarded the actual facts in Brazil and went against established WTO law," and that as a result, the ruling is unacceptably easy for Brasilia to implement (see BRIDGES Weekly, 20 June 2007).
NOVARTIS PATENT CHALLENGE DISMISSED IN INDIA	Pharmaceutical giant Novartis saw its challenge to Indian patent law dismissed in the Chennai High Court on 6 August. The multinational had filed the suit after the Indian authorities denied it a patent on Glivec, a cancer medicine, in January 2006, thus allowing the production of cheap generic copies of the drug to continue freely.
REVISED WHO PLAN FOR PHARMACEUTICAL R&D CALLED A 'REASONABLE PLACE TO START'	The World Health Organization has released an updated version of a potential plan to spur innovation aimed at developing affordable treatments for diseases that disproportionately affect poor countries. The forty-one page document, dated 31 July, contains a wide range of ideas for how to identify research needs, ramp up pharmaceutical development and innovative capacity, and improve access to medicines.
DISPUTE PANEL CREATED IN CHINA SUBSIDY CASE, AS US RATCHETS UP PRESSURE	The US is turning up the heat on China at the WTO, pushing separate cases against Chinese tax and intellectual property policies.

In Brief	WTO in Brief
EU Set to Keep Extra Duties on Energy-Saving Light Bulbs from China

Events        &        Resources
Events	3-14 September, Madrid, Spain. EIGHTH SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE UN CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATON (COP-8). This session will review the implementation of the Convention, the report of the Committee on Science and Technology, activities for promotion of relationships with other relevant organizations, and the 2006 International Year of Deserts and Desertification activities. Internet: http://www.unccd.int
Resources	MARKET MECHANISMS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: HOW DO THEY FIT IN THE VARIOUS POST-2012 CLIMATE EFFORTS? International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), July 2007. This report examines how a future market mechanism that supports sustainable development could fit in the various scenarios being considered for the post-2012 period (when the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period expires). The report considers a range of options and approaches to post-2012, arguing that a successful future regime will need to balance the demands and expectations of both developed and developing countries. Available online at: http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/market_mechanisms.pdf
Vacancy	The World Trade Institute (WTI), a joint center of the Swiss universities of Berne, Fribourg and Neuchâtel, with an interdisciplinary focus on the field of international trade regulation, is seeking to fill the position of Director of Studies (100%). For a full job description please see the vacancies section of the WTI's website at http://www.wti.org. To apply, please send your CV, certificates, and a statement of interest to Ms. Margrit Vetter, World Trade Institute, Hallerstr. 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland, or margrit.vetter@wti.org. For inquiries, please call +41 31 631 3270.
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest is made possible through the generous support of the Government of the United Kingdom (DFID) and ICTSD's core donors including the Governments of Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden; Christian Aid (UK) and NOVIB (NL). BRIDGES Weekly also benefits from support for the BRIDGES series of publications from donors including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.