BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest

Lead Stories
WAITING TO START MODALITIES PUSH, WTO MEMBERS SEEK CLARITY ON SCOPE OF DISCUSSIONS	As WTO Members kick off another push to conclude an accord in the troubled Doha Round talks, they face an unavoidable conundrum: how to strike a framework 'modalities' deal on agriculture and industrial goods trade (which they now aim to do by March or April), while other issues in the negotiations remain unresolved. Can Japan, for instance, agree to politically contentious cuts to farm subsidies and tariffs, while running the risk that it may not get any of its eagerly sought reforms to WTO anti-dumping rules?
ROUGH SAILING FOR FISHERIES SUBSIDY TALKS	Divisions among WTO Members marked discussions last week on a set of potential multilateral disciplines on fisheries subsidy spending. The talks marked the first formal meeting of the Doha Round negotiating group on rules to discuss the draft consolidated text on fisheries subsidies tabled by Chair Ambassador Guillermo Valles Games (Uruguay) last November.
GENERAL COUNCIL PAVES WAY FOR UKRAINE TO JOIN WTO	WTO Members rubber stamped Ukraine's bid to become the 152nd Member of the global trade body on 5 February, approving the former Soviet state's terms of accession after 14 years of negotiations. Ukraine's parliament will have until 4 July to ratify the agreement, although this could be extended. Ukraine would formally become a WTO Member 30 days after ratification.

In Brief	WTO in Brief
EU-Korea Free Trade Negotiations '70 Percent Complete'	Energy, Services Holding Back Algeria's WTO Accession Talks General Council Approves Committee Chairs For 2008

Events        &        Resources
Events	7-8 February, Geneva, Switzerland: COMMISSION ON TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES - 12th SESSION ORGANIZED BY THE UN CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT. The Commission will examine globalization's contribution to development from a trade perspective. Also, there will be reports from two expert meetings, one on the trade and development implications of financial services and the other on the South-South dimension of world trade. Internet: http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&lang=1&m=14642&year=2008&month=2
Resources	DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND ENFORCEMENT OF TRADE AGREEMENTS: WHY DISPUTE SETTLEMENT IS NOT ENOUGH. By Chad Brown and Bernard Hoekman. The World Bank, 2007. This paper describes how poor countries are rarely challenged in formal World Trade Organization trade disputes for failing to live up to commitments, thus reducing the benefits of their participation in international trade agreements. It examines the political-economic causes of the failure to challenge poor countries, and discusses the static and dynamic costs and externality implications of this failure. Given the weak incentives to enforce World Trade Organization rules and disciplines against small and poor members, bolstering the transparency function of the World Trade Organization is important for making trade agreements more relevant to trade constituencies in developing countries. Although the paper focuses on the World Trade Organization system, the arguments also apply to reciprocal North-South trade agreements. The paper is available online at www-wds.worldbank.org
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.