BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest

Lead Stories
WTO AG CHAIR’S NEW TEXT: GRADUAL PROGRESS ON MARKET ACCESS, ‘HEADLINE NUMBERS’ UNCHANGED	A new text outlining a plausible Doha Round deal on farm subsidy and tariff cuts circulated last week by the chair of the WTO agriculture negotiations contained no big surprises, according to trade diplomats in Geneva. The text, dated 8 February, did reflect convergence in recent months on a number of issues, particularly on market access. However, the controversial ‘headline numbers’ for overall percentage cuts to tariff and subsidy levels remained largely unchanged from the previous draft deal issued in July 2007.
NEW NAMA TEXT URGES MEMBERS TO EXAMINE TRADEOFFS BETWEEN FORMULA, FLEXIBILITIES	Reaching a compromise in the deeply divided Doha Round talks on industrial goods trade might require granting developing countries increased latitude to shelter some products from tariff reduction, the chair of the WTO negotiating committee suggested last week. In a new draft text that is to serve as the basis for further discussion, Canadian Ambassador Don Stephenson, who chairs the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) talks, conceded that consensus among WTO Members was entirely absent on some of the central issues in the negotiations.

In Brief	WTO in Brief
Biofuels May Be Increasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, New Studies Suggest US Congressman Pushes for Renewed Trade Preferences US Farm Bill Talks Heat Up Focus on IPR Enforcement at Meeting in Dubai	EU Loses On Bananas Again

Events        &        Resources
Events	14-16 February, Porto Alegre, Brasil. WORLD CONFERENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES. This conference’s official title is ‘Democratic Innovation and Social Transformation for Inclusive Cities in the 21st century’. Issues to be discussed include; Local Policies on Citizens Rights and Responsibilities; Innovative Experiences of Democratic Participation and Administration; Local Development in Cities; and Sustainability and the Network City. The Conference will also focus on issues related to urban poverty and urban inequalities. Internet: www.cmdc2008.com.br
Resources	NGO INVOLVEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: A LEGAL ANALYSIS. By Sergey Ripinsky and Peter Van den Bossche. British Institute of International and Comparative Law, December,2007. In light of the growing influence of NGOs in international decision-making, this book investigates the arrangements for NGO involvement in the activities of a range of international institutions, and examines and compares relevant rules and practices. The analysis focuses in particular on the legal basis for NGO involvement, forms of involvement, NGO participatory rights, applicable accreditation criteria and procedures, and rules on subsequent monitoring of accredited NGOs. International institutions are each covered in separate chapters, and the final chapter provides a comparative analysis of the examined systems. The book can be purchased online at http://www.biicl.org/publications/view/-/id/119/.
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.