WTO crisis and reform
WTO Corner: Trade and Health, China, MPIA, WTO Secretariat
China joins Trade and Health Initiative It’s gone almost unnoticed, but the Ottawa-Group sponsored ‘trade and healthcare’ initiative is officially expanding, with China joining the group, alongside Hong Kong, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the United Kingdom. The announcement was made official in a communication circulated on 22 April …
Event invitation: Do we need a WTO climate waiver?
Borderlex is pleased to partner with the Geneva-based Trade Policy Exchange for a fascinating conversation: how to make trade rules and the fight against climate change better compatible at the World Trade Organization. The event will feature Jim Bacchus from the Centre for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity at the …
United Kingdom finds its role as ‘critical friend’ of World Trade Organization
The United Kingdom has stepped into the complex world of WTO politics with the announcement that it is set to join the Ottawa Group – a loose coalition of nations seeking reform of the Organization – after months of working behind the scenes making its post-Brexit mark in Geneva. London’s …
WTO Corner: Members eye December 2021 for MC12, Section 232 cases postponed again
Ambassadors to the World Trade Organization are meeting for an intensive two-day General Council meeting where few actual decisions are expected, except the most expedient: adoption of next year’s budget, and, if all goes well, a decision on Thursday (17 December) to ban export restrictions on food items purchased by …
WTO Corner: COVID-19 vaccine IP campaigning, India and Africa on WTO reform, World Food Programme purchases
Post-COVID 19 TRIPS campaigning intensifies NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières (the French ‘Doctors without Borders’ humanitarian organisation) are joining the campaign of developing countries led by India and South Africa at the WTO who are asking for sweeping flexibilities and/or a waiver on intellectual property rules. The aim is …
WTO Corner: Ottawa Group eyes Joint Statement on trade and healthcare
The Ottawa Group, an informal network of countries interested in discussing reforms at the World Trade Organization established in early 2019 is seeking improvements in the way trade in healthcare products is handled beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic. The signatories are eyeing a possible Joint Statement in early 2021, which …
Blueprint for a green trade agenda
A series of papers published by the think tank Europe Jacques Delors puts forward proposals that aim to strengthen environmental protection within an open international trading system. Borderlex’s Iana Dreyer exchanged views with one of the papers’ co-authors Geneviève Pons.
WTO members launch two trade and environment initiatives
A subset of 23 World Trade Organization members formally launched an initiative on ‘trade and environment’ that could lead to concrete proposals to the institution at its next ministerial conference. Another initiative announced during this week’s WTO ‘Trade and Environment Week’ is a Chinese-led plastic waste “informal dialogue”.
Ingredients for a climate-friendly trade policy
UC Berkeley economist Joseph Shapiro is of the view that trade policy is “sending the wrong price signal” by bolstering trade in dirty goods in comparison to cleaner products, especially in Europe. Speaking to Borderlex’s Sarah Anne Aarup, Shapiro said that rather than raising trade barriers on dirty goods, focusing …
