BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest

Lead Stories
TRADE MINISTERS DISCUSS LINKS BETWEEN COMMERCE AND CLIMATE CHANGE AT BALI CONFERENCE	International cooperation and a multilateral framework to address greenhouse gas emissions are a prerequisite for effective global economic governance, trade ministers from several major economies said during a weekend meeting on the margins of the United Nations climate change conference in Bali.
MORE AFRICAN COUNTRIES SIGN EPAs WITH EU, AS LEADERS QUARREL AT LISBON SUMMIT	More African countries have moved to sign provisional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU, even as African and European leaders clashed over trade relations and human rights during a weekend summit in Lisbon.
EU-US BID TO RESTRICT NAMA FLEXIBILITIES SPARKS NEW ROW IN DIVIDED TALKS	A new proposal by the EU and the US to constrain developing nations' freedom to choose which industrial products to shield from Doha Round tariff cuts met strong opposition last week from countries such as Brazil, China and India, further polarising the troubled negotiations.

In Brief	WTO in Brief
	Progress Elusive in S&D Negotiations SVEs Reiterate Their Vulnerability at CTD Dedicated Session

Events        &        Resources
Events	16 December, Teheran, Iran. SEMINAR ON IMPLICATIONS OF IRAN´S WTO ACCESSION ON AGRICULTURE: MARKET ACCESS AND DOMESTIC SUPPORT COMMITMENTS. In the context of its assistance to countries in the process of acceding to the WTO, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is co-organising along with Iranian authorities a one day workshop on agriculture negotiations. Each one of the pillars of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture will be reviewed, examining the impact of its provisions on the Iranian economy. The current state of play of the Doha round negotiations on agriculture will also be examined, as well as the possible way forward. Participants will include trade officials from the ministries dealing with agriculture-related issues. This one day seminar on agriculture negotiations will be followed by consultations held with the Iranian authorities on the overall accession process. e-mail: mina.mashayekhi@unctad.org or ralf.peters@unctad.org.
Resources	GROWING USE, UNCERTAIN BENEFITS, UNEVEN CONTROLS. By Kenneth P. Thomas. Global Subsidies Initiative/International Institute for Sustainable Development, November 2007. This report analyzes governments' use of investment incentives. These subsidies are designed to induce an investor to choose one location over another, affecting the location of an investment. They can thus be distinguished from production subsidies, which are not contingent on investment, but are instead based on normal production. Investment incentives have been around for over 100 years. But it was only in the late 20th century that governments around the world began offering direct grants, tax breaks, training funds, free infrastructure and other inducements to attract corporate investment. While often thought of as a competition to attract foreign direct investment, competition is equally strong for domestic firms. The most intense competition and the largest subsidies are given to well-known multinational companies who make large investments. Available at http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=928.
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.