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News archives

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Brazil, U.S. Split Over Talks
The Miami Herald | By JANE BUSSEY | September 30, 2003 Brazil and the United States appear headed for a showdown over the scope of a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, according to trade negotiators attending a preliminary meeting this week in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Region... Continued...

Zoellick Flies In To Wrap Up Cafta
Latinnews Daily | September 30, 2003 HEADLINE: CENTRAL AMERICA: Zoellick flies in to wrap up Cafta BODY: US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick begins a four-day visit to Central America today with a view to resolving some of the difficulties in the US-Central America free trade agreement (Caf... Continued...

Peace, Global Trade Put On The Table At African Development Conference
Agence France Presse | By SHINO YUASA | September 30, 2003 Nearly 50 African nations and the international community on Tuesday discussed peace and the failure of global trade talks as they began the second day of a three-day conference on African development here. Sadako Ogata, former UN Hig... Continued...

Cancun Ministerial And After Effect -Textile Sector For Indo-African Cooperations
In The Financial Express | By Ashok B Sharma | September 29, 2003 New Delhi-- Textile industry suggests that in the scheduled WTO talks in December this year, after the recent collapse of the Cancun meet, India should join hands with the African countries in demanding that US reduce its subsidy ... Continued...

Government To Analyze Position Regarding The Million Dollar Demand From The Oil Company
La Nacion (Costa Rica) | September 29, 2003 San Jose (EFE). The Costa Rican government will analyze tomorrow, Tuesday, the position it will take regarding a suit for 57 million dollars brought against it by U.S. oil company Harken Energy Corporation. Harken has taken its suit to the Internat... Continued...

Monday, September 29, 2003

WTO Postpones Farming Meeting Indefinitely
AFX European Focus | September 29, 2003 A WTO meeting on agriculture that was due to be held on Oct 6-9 has been delayed indefinitely, said Chairman of the Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture Stuart Harbinson in a statement. No more talks will take place until after the General ... Continued...

Fisheries Trade Liberalization And Food Insecurity (Analysis)
BusinessWorld | By Eusebio Jacinto, Jr., Bas Umali and Jaime Escober, Jr., Tambuyog Development Center | September 29, 2003 Mere liberalization of fisheries trade does not guarantee either resource sustainability or food security, particularly food security based on self-sufficiency or self-rel... Continued...

Americans Oppose Brazil Position in FTAA
Gazeta Mercatil Online (Brasil) | September 29, 2003 A group of some 70 American companies and representative organizations signed a letter last week to US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, indirectly criticising the Brazilian proposal to negotiate the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) ... Continued...

US And Brazil On Collision Course Over FTAA
Latinnews Daily | September 29, 2003 The US and Brazil look to be on a collision course over the Free Trade in the Americas negotiations they are jointly chairing. The issue is likely to come to a head this week at the first session of the FTAA negotiations since the collapse of the World Trade... Continued...

Business: Going Up In Flames
Newsweek | By Jeffrey E. Garten | September 29, 2003 Cancun was just one example of faltering international talks, one symptom of decay in a leaderless global order The global-trade talks in Cancun, Mexico, shut down early, at precisely at 6 p.m. on Sunday, which is very odd. These kinds of ne... Continued...

Sunday, September 28, 2003

Brazilian President Meets With Castro to Talk Trade
Associated Press | September 28, 2003 HAVANA -- Linked for decades as fellow icons of Latin America's left, Brazil's president and Fidel Castro cemented their relationship Saturday as they talked business and ignored Cuba's human-rights record. Presiding over the signing of $200 million in new... Continued...

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Miami Plans To Prevent Disruptions During Trade Talks
Floridabiz.com | By Steve Ellman | September 19, 2003 Miami hopes to be more successful than Washington, D.C., was in 1998 at preventing violence Two months before thousands of demonstrators are expected to descend on Miami to protest high-level international trade talks, civil liberties act... Continued...

WTO Panel Delays Decision On Cheap Drugs For Poor Countries
Biotech Week | September 24, 2003 The World Trade Organization has delayed a decision on a measure giving poor nations access to inexpensive generic drugs, a move that would improve their ability to fight such diseases as AIDS and malaria. The organization appeared poised to endorse the plan a... Continued...

Rich Nations Must Break Trade Impasse To Fight Poverty, Says Wolfensohn
Agence France Presse | By SAM DAGHER | September 23, 2003 World Bank president James Wolfensohn called on rich nations Tuesday to provide more aid and facilitate trade with poor countries to combat an alarming rise in poverty and make the world a safer place. "We must address the fundamental ... Continued...

Steeled for 2004?
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) | September 23, 2003 In his weekly radio address, President Bush touted the benefits of lowering trade barriers and opening markets overseas. He also warned the country's trading partners against using unfair practices. He made plain the United States wouldn't tolerat... Continued...

European Commission To Seek Trade Sanctions Against US
The Bulletin's Frontrunner | September 23, 2003 The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswire (9/23) reports that the European Commission "said it will seek trade sanctions against the US over an antidumping law ruled illegal by the WTO. The WTO ruled against the US in 2000, but Washington still ha... Continued...

Ohio Congressmen Criticize Trade Agenda, Seek to Save U.S. Jobs
The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio | By Jeffrey Sheban | Last week's collapse of world trade talks in Cancun, Mexico, should signal to the Bush administration to change course, representatives of Ohio's industrial heartland said yesterday. Three Democratic members of Congress, all critical of U.S. ... Continued...

Failed Cancun Talks Give Impetus To Bilateral Deals
The International Herald Tribune | By Brian Knowlton | September 23, 2003 Tuesday WASHINGTON -- No sooner had the dust begun to settle from the collapse of the recent World Trade Organization talks in Cancun than a variety of officials began raising the specter of a return to the very sort of bi... Continued...

NGOs Seen As Reason For Talks Failure
The Nation (Thailand) | September 23, 2003 International trade sources believe non-governmental organisations were responsible for last week's walkout by African, Caribbean and Pacific countries at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun, which led to a collapse of the global trade talks. ... Continued...

China Not Honouring Its WTO Promises, American Report Claims
South China Morning Post | By Allen T. Cheng | September 23, 2003 China not honouring its WTO promises, American report claims; Little progress is seen on financial services, agriculture and distribution US corporations on the mainland are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the way the ... Continued...

Monday, September 22, 2003

Message Of The Cancun Meet : United We Stand
In The Financial Express, India, | By Ashok B Sharma | September 22, 2003 Whatever may be the causes of the collapse of the Cancun ministerial meeting of the WTO - be it the Singapore issues or farm subsidies or the forthcoming US presidential election or a combination of the three - it has give... Continued...

Trade Talks Go Mum
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) | September 18, 2003 It was disappointing to see the world trade talks break down Sunday in Cancun, Mexico. The issues of agriculture and subsidies that benefit wealthy nations at the expense of poorer ones proved too contentious to solve at this most recent meet... Continued...

First Cancún, Then Washington
The Nation | By John Nichols | September 15, 2003 When the World Trade Organization's fifth ministerial conference in Cancun collapsed Sunday without reaching agreement on how to launch new free-trade initiatives, American activist Gretchen Gordon declared, "This is a major victory for the social... Continued...

The WTO""s Broken Promise
In These Times | By David Moberg | September 29, 2003 TRADE NEGOTIATORS PROMISED THAT "development" of the world's poorer nations would be at the top of their agenda during negotiations over new trade rules that the World Trade Organization members launched two years ago. They planned to focus... Continued...

Breakdown in WTO Talks Leaves Citrus Growers Hanging
The Bradenton Herald | By JANE BUSSEY | September 22, 2003 MIAMI -- At first glance, the collapse of global trade talks in Cancun would seem like good news for Florida's citrus and sugar interests - key state industries that face major regional competition. But there was only muted cheer over... Continued...

Local Fund-Raisers Push for FTAA Site
The Miami Herald | By MIKE SEEMUTH | September 22, 2003 Not-for-profit Florida FTAA is raising private donations and public funds to extend its reach, thanks in part to a couple of local business executives who volunteered as lead arm twisters. Juan Cento, president of the Miami-based FedEx Ex... Continued...

Sunday, September 21, 2003

Why No One Wins in the Global Food Fight
Washington Post | By Brian Halweil | September 21, 2003 Free trade in food is simple. At least on paper. If Mexico produces corn for $3 a bushel, and the United States can do it for $2, then Mexicans get out of the corn-growing business and eat American corn. Ah, but in the real world, an... Continued...

Friday, September 19, 2003

Cancun Demise Over Singapore Issues Allows U.S. To Avoid Blame
Inside US Trade | September 19, 2003 The decision by the chairman of the fifth ministerial of the World Trade Organization to end negotiations in Cancun on the subject of the Singapore issues has the effect of allowing the U.S. and other developed countries to avoid being blamed for the col... Continued...

Sales Of Fair Trade Coffee Perk Up
Star Tribune | By John Reinan | September 19, 2003 Dave and Sonja Strutz get a nice buzz from their morning coffee, and it's not just from the caffeine. The St. Cloud couple drink only fair trade coffee, which they order in bulk from an East Coast supplier. "The coffee itself is great, and th... Continued...

Farm Subsidies: To be or not to be?
National Family Farm Coalition | By George Naylor | September 19, 2003 When I met fellow farmers from around the world at the WTO trade talks in Cancun, Mexico, last week, I found that low commodity prices were destroying their rural communities, just like mine. In recent years, prices for th... Continued...

Thursday, September 18, 2003

The Cancún Circus: A Worn-Out Act By Rich Nations
International Herald Tribune | By John Audley | September 18, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico The World Trade Organization talks here last week looked more like a three-ring circus than the top-level negotiations they were billed as. Unsurprisingly, negotiators went home unsuccessful. Who expects to secure a... Continued...

Soy Farming Cuts Deep Into Amazon Brazil""s Choice / Big Export Market
International Herald | September 18, 2003 It takes only a trip on the busy but rutted highway that leads north from here to understand how a huge swath of the Amazon jungle could have been razed over the course of just a year. Where the jungle once offered shelter to jaguars, parrots and deer, th... Continued...

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

After Cancun, Rich Man""s ""Debacle"" Is the Poor Man""s ""Moral Victory""
Washington Post.com | By Jefferson Morley | September 17, 2003 In the United States, the failure of the World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to reach a new agreement was seen as a "debacle" that cast a shadow on the future of free trade. The online media in the world's po... Continued...

U.S. Family Farmers Applaud Collapse Of WTO Talks
National Family Farm Coalition |September 15, 2003 Washington, The U.S.-based National Family Farm Coalition joined with farmers and peasants around the world in welcoming the collapse of the WTO talks. George Naylor, an Iowa corn and soybean farmer and NFFC President representing Iowa Citiz... Continued...

WTO Loses; Farmers Win
Capital Times (Madison, WI) | September 16, 2003 Any time the World Trade Organization is prevented from furthering the agenda of the global corporations that seek to dominate the economic, social and political life of the planet, it is cause for celebration. So pop the champagne corks, becau... Continued...

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Global talks On Trade Raked As ""One-Sided""
Des Moines Register | By PHILIP BRASHER and JERRY PERKINS | September 16, 2003 The collapse of global trade talks Sunday in Mexico was regrettable, but it was unfair of poor countries to insist on deep cuts in U.S. and European Union farm subsidies without opening their markets to imported food, ... Continued...

PM Scolds Industrial Nations on Subsidies
CBC News | Sept. 16, 2003 QUEBEC - Prime Minister Jean Chrétien criticized industrial nations Tuesday after they failed to reach a deal on reducing farm subsidies. "When will we stop this nonsense of giving so much subsidies that a cow in some countries gets more money than any child?" Chréti... Continued...

Monday, September 15, 2003

Delegates From Poorer Nations Walk Out of World Trade Talks
New York Times | By Elizabeth Becker | Sept. 15, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico, Sept. 14 - World trade talks intended to help the developing nations unexpectedly collapsed today when delegates from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia walked out, accusing wealthy nations of failing to offer sufficient compromise... Continued...

Falling Int""l Prices Hit Coffee Growers In Developing Nations""
In The Financial Express | By Ashok B Sharma | Sept 15, 2003 The current nature of global trade has affected coffee exporters of developing countries. Global prices of unprocessed coffee have fallen by 70 per cent since 1997 causing a loss in foreign exchange earnings of developing countries by ... Continued...

Can G-21 Succeed In Cancun Negotiations ?
In The Financial Express | bY Ashok B Sharma | Sept 15, 2003 The negotiations till the fourth day of the fifth WTO ministerial meet in Cancun have proved that the developed countries are not ready to reduce their subsidies and support or give market access to the products of the Third World. Much... Continued...

Lamy Blames WTO""s ""Medieval"" Structure For Failure Of Cancun Talks
AFX European Focus | September 15, 2003 EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy blamed the World Trade Organisation's "medieval" structure for the collapse of ministerial talks in Cancun, Mexico, on trade liberalisation. "Despite the commitment of many able people, the WTO remains a medieval ... Continued...

WTO""s Supachai Says ""Disappointed"" Over Failure Of Cancun Conference
AFX.COM | September 15, 2003 World Trade Organization Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi Sunday expressed disappointment over the collapse of the Cancun conference, but vowed trade liberalization talks will not be derailed. "I have to admit I'm quite disappointed with the way we h... Continued...

Campaigners Point Finger For WTO Failure At Rich Countries
Agence France Presse | By KATE MILLAR | September 15, 2003 Campaigners and lobbyists on Sunday blamed an insistence by rich countries on pushing their demands against the will of developing nations for the breakdown in WTO trade talks here. Oxfam, the international relief agency, said it took... Continued...

Disagreement Between Rich And Poor Countries Causes Negotiations To Collapse, A Setback To Bush
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) | By Jane Bussey | September 15, 2003 LENGTH: 389 words Global trade talks collapsed Sunday as poor countries balked at proposals by rich nations to make it easier for multinational corporations to invest and operate around the globe, while refusing to cut agricultural... Continued...

Talks Collapse At WTO Meeting; Poor Nations Bind Together To Challenge Wealthy Nations
Associated Press | By NAOMI KOPPEL | September 15, 2003 Poor nations united and claimed a new voice in global trade talks, even as their refusal to be pressured by rich nations contributed to the collapse of a crucial World Trade Organization meeting. Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Der... Continued...

A Trade Shipwreck in Cancun
Business Week Online | By Paul Magnusson | September 15, 2003 The World Trade Organization's two-year attempt to create a new global trade pact collapsed on Sept. 14 in Cancun, Mexico, as talks involving 148 nations deadlocked. The negotiations stalled over contentious issues ranging from elimin... Continued...

WTO Talks Fail As Poor Nations Balk
Chicago Tribune | By Andrew Martin and Hugh Dellios | September 15, 2003 After four days in which developing nations made unprecedented demands to be heard, world trade talks imploded Sunday amid allegations that wealthy nations were trying to force their agendas for agriculture and investment u... Continued...

WTO: Great Expectations
Grand Forks Herald | September 15, 2003 Monday European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said Sept. 12 that he expects the United States to agree to reform its 2002 farm bill to follow the lines of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy reform as part of the Doha trade round. Asked b... Continued...

Trade Impasse
Jim Leher News Hour | September 15, 2003 The World Trade Organization conference in Cancun collapsed when delegates from developing nations walked out. Ray Suarez follows up on the weekend's events with Josette Shiner, a deputy U.S. trade representative, and Richard Bernal, the lead negotiator... Continued...

Derbez Defends Decision To End Ministerial Mid-Day
Inside US Trade | September 15, 2003 CANCUN -- Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez, the chairman of the World Trade Organization's fifth ministerial, defended his decision to bring the conference to a close when he did following criticism from WTO members that he had done so prem... Continued...

Brazil Says Americas Accord Threatened by WTO Failure
Bloomberg | September 15, 2003 Brazil, the world's largest producer of sugar, oranges and coffee, said the collapse of world Trade Organization talks threatens efforts to create a free-trade agreement spanning the Americas. The refusal of the U.S. and European Union to discuss reducing agricul... Continued...

Sunday, September 14, 2003

Poor Rattle Doors of the WTO Club
The Observer | By Nick Mathiason | September 14, 2003 A growing band of militant Third World states threatens US-EU control of the world trade system. Routinely shown the rough end of the world trading stick, the beaten hit back last week at the Cancun talks. 'No more are we sitting outside in... Continued...

Cancún Crisis Threatens to End WTO Legitimacy
Action Aid | September 14, 2003 The WTO's legitimacy has been called into question as it enters the final stages of the Fifth Ministerial Conference in Cancún. The draft Ministerial text currently under discussion has blatantly disregarded the views of developing countries, leaving only the wishe... Continued...

WTO Pulls All-Nighter in Search of Deal
Associated Press Online | By NAOMI KOPPEL | September 14, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico - Ministers from the 146 members of the World Trade Organization negotiated into early morning Sunday as they tried to find glimmers of agreement on a free-trade declaration. Governments are sticking to their positi... Continued...

Small-Scale Farmers Decry WTO Policies
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution | By SUSAN FERRISS | September 14, 2003 Cancun, Mexico --- Representatives of developing countries lashed out Saturday at the United States and the European Union, declaring that a draft World Trade Organization declaration fails to change trade policies that... Continued...

Brazil, India Say WTO Draft Document One-Sided, Favours EU, US
BBC Monitoring International Reports | September 14, 2003 Cancun, Mexico, 14 September: India, along with Brazil, on Sunday (14 September) spearheaded the developing countries' battle at the WTO, attacking the draft document that was seen by them as one-sided in favour of the EU and US and ignori... Continued...

Incomplete World Trade Organization Agreement Draws Chorus Of Boos
Copley News Service | By Diane Lindquist and S. Lynne Walker | September 14, 2003 U.S. congressmen on Saturday blasted the first draft of a World Trade Organization agreement they had hoped would spur more sales of American food products abroad "There is a long way to go to satisfy U.S. farm... Continued...

WTO Draft Proposal Benefits U.S., Europe, Critics Charge
The Dallas Morning News | By Ricardo Sandoval and Alfredo Corchado | September 14, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico _ Polarized trading blocs wasted little time Saturday in branding a proposed declaration from the World Trade Organization as a gift to the United States and Europe that does nothing for struggl... Continued...

Farming Worlds Collide At Trade Summit
Chicago Tribune | By Hugh Dellios and Andy Martin | September 14, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico -- Hilario Kauich Canul plants corn each year on land his family has farmed near the Caribbean coast since Mayan times. But now he doesn't understand why the local cooperative won't buy his product anymore. "... Continued...

WTO Subsidies Draft Angers Poorer Nations
Houston Chronicle | By DUDLEY ALTHAUS | September 13, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico -- Protesters wilted in the tropical swelter Saturday but tempers flared inside meeting halls at this Mexican beach resort, where delegates from 148 countries are trying to iron out proposals for a global opening of agricul... Continued...

Trade Talks Reach Crunch Point As Developing Countries Trade Talks Reach Crunch Point As Developing Countries
World Development Movement | September 14, 2003 The World Development Movement today condemned the EU for pursuing a Cancun ?grab what you can? Agenda in 'stiched up' negotiations as trade talks in Mexico entered their final day. Developing countries last night rejected the revised draft of the... Continued...

Cancun Trade Talks Collapse Over Rich-Poor Rift
Reuters | By Patrick Lannin and Richard Waddington | September 14, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Trade talks in Mexico critical to the health of the world economy collapsed on Sunday after rich and poor states failed to bridge deep divisions over agriculture and investment rules, delegates sai... Continued...

WTO Talks Running Out Of Time
CNN.com | September 14, 2003 Rich and poor nations are divided over farm subsidies. Ross Denton of law firm Baker and Mackenzie gives his analysis. CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) -- Deeply divided and running out of time, world trade ministers made a final push on Sunday to bring rich and poor coun... Continued...

USTR on Collapse of Trade Talks In Cancun
USTR Press Release | September 14, 2003 Statement of U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick "Whether developed or developing, there were 'can do' and 'won't do' countries here. The rhetoric of the 'won't do' overwhelmed the concerted efforts of the 'can do'. 'Won't do' led to impasse. ... Continued...

World Trade Talks "Collapse"
BBC News | Sept. 14, 2003 The world trade talks in Mexico have collapsed amid serious differences between the rich and poor nations. After four days of wrangling, there was deadlock over proposed new rules on how countries treat foreign investors, on competition policy and trade procedures. ... Continued...

Cancun Trade Talks Collapse; Poor Blame Rich
Reuters | By Patrick Lannin and Richard Waddington | Sept. 14, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Trade talks critical to the health of the world economy collapsed in Mexico on Sunday after poor states refused to bow to a demand from some rich countries for new rules on foreign investment. Agric... Continued...

U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick Press Conference September 14, 2003
USTR PRESS RELEASES | SEPTEMBER 14, 2003 CONTACT: RICHARD MILLS/ RICARDO REYES 998-883-3583 (Cancun) * * T r a n s c r i p t * * U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick Evening Press Conference World Trade Organization Fifth Ministerial Meeting Cancun, Mexico September 14, 200... Continued...

Saturday, September 13, 2003

Free Trade""s Enemies Make Hay In Cancun
Australian Financial Review | Sept. 13, 2003 It's too early to say whether delegates to the World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun, now immersed in private talks, can get the faltering Doha round of trade liberalisation negotiations back on track. But what can be said is that the usual sab... Continued...

Nasty Nine Dig In On Farm Trade Reform
Australian Financial Review | By Mark Davis | Sept. 13, 2003 Nine countries form a wall against Australia's desire for freer world farm trade, writes Mark Davis in Cancun. Liechtenstein has only 150 farmers left most of them herding cattle in the Alps. But the tiny principality between Austria... Continued...

WTO Makes Progress on Agricultural Reform
Associated Press | Sept. 13, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (AP) -- World Trade Organization members have made progress on the thorny issue of agricultural reform and are preparing a proposal aimed at closing the differences between rich and poor nations, officials said Saturday. Group spokesman Keith Ro... Continued...

Brazil Sees WTO Agricultural Accord
Reuters | Sept. 13, 2003 BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil said on Saturday it expected world trade talks to produce a modest, general accord on agriculture that set the agenda for further talks but did not target the subsidy cuts developing nations are after. Brazil, a leading nation in the... Continued...

Cancun Steels for Protests at Trade Talks
Reuters | Sept. 13, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - World trade negotiators were making progress on Saturday in an attempt to bridge deep divisions between rich and poor nations and revive chances of sealing a global market-opening pact by the end of 2004. As 2,000 anti-capitalism protesters m... Continued...

Trade Summit Faces Crucial Day
BBC News | Sept. 13, 2003 Negotiations at the world trade talks in the Mexican city of Cancun have entered a critical phase with the sides deadlocked over the issue of farm subsidies. A new draft of the final declaration is being handed to delegations in an effort to reconcile the United Stat... Continued...

India, China Firm on Demands
Times of India | Sept. 13, 2003 MEXICO: Mounting political pressure did not deter developing countries like India, Brazil and China to budge from their demand for a commitment from EU and US for phased elimination of domestic support and export subsidies in agriculture. Due to this the formulatio... Continued...

Brazil Seeking Stronger Ties
Miami Herald | By Andrew Downie | Sept. 13, 2003 RIO DE JANEIRO - Trying to resist U.S. influence in Latin America and fulfill a dream of bringing the region's countries together, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been stepping up his efforts to strengthen the Mercosur trading blo... Continued...

WTO Issues Measure to Cut Farm Subsidies
Associated Press | By Naomi Koppel | Sept. 13, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico - The World Trade Organization issued a draft resolution Saturday to force member countries to cut farm subsidies, but it didn't go as far as many developing nations have demanded and some called it unacceptable. All 146 membe... Continued...

Dynamics In Agriculture Negotiations Change With Emergence Of New Developing Country Group
Inside US Trade | September 13, 2003 CANCUN--The dynamics in the agriculture negotiations may have shifted today (Sept. 12) with the emergence of a new group of developing countries focused on a different approach to the agriculture negotiations than the G-21 by calling for special protections ... Continued...

Proposal at WTO Meeting Rejects Changes in Subsidies
The New York Times | By ELIZABETH BECKER and GINGER THOMPSON | September 13, 2003 A compromise proposal issued at the meeting of the World Trade Organization here today rejects most of the pleas for change in agriculture from the developing world, including African cotton producers, and generall... Continued...

Protesters in Minneapolis Assail WTO Talks
Mineapolis Star and Tribune | September 13, 2003 About 125 people gathered Friday for a midday rally and march in downtown Minneapolis to protest World Trade Organization talks taking place in Cancun, Mexico. Larry Weiss, coordinator of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, said one-third of... Continued...

Friday, September 12, 2003

Trade Talks Enter Crucial Phase
BBC News | Sept. 12, 2003 World trade talks are hanging in the balance as negotiators attempt to break the deadlock on farm subsidies. As a third day of discussions gets underway in Cancun, Mexico, the United States and Europe is again expected to clash with a bloc of developing nations bent on ... Continued...

U.S. Races to Break WTO Impasse
Wall Street Journal | By Neil King Jr. and Scott Miller | Sept. 12, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico -- U.S. trade negotiators scrambled to salvage World Trade Organization talks amid mounting opposition from developing countries reluctant to further open their markets to imported food and industrial goods. ... Continued...

Agriculture Still the Sticking Point at WTO Talks
Associated Press | By Naomi Koppel | Sept. 12, 2003 Poor nations are standing firm on their demands for big cuts in agricultural subsidies despite criticism that they are offering little in return. The so-called Group of 21 developing countries, led by Brazil, India and China, held long meetin... Continued...

Cotton Deal Holds Key to WTO Subsidy Row
The Independent | By Philip Thornton | Sept. 12, 2003 EUROPE AND the United States were last night facing a three-pronged attack by some of the world's poorest countries seeking massive concessions as part of a deal to push ahead with an agreement to liberalise free trade. Ministers were lock... Continued...

Nations Dig in Their Heels at WTO Face-off
Miami Herald | By Jane Bussey | Sept. 12, 2003 Fissures in the world trade consensus threatened to widen into a chasm at the world trade talks here Thursday as developing countries and industrialized ones hardened their positions on farm subsidies. The standoff between the United States and th... Continued...

African Nations Press for an End to Cotton Subsidies in the West
New York Times | By Elizabeth Becker | Sept. 12, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico, Sept. 11 - The director general of the World Trade Organization said today that he would intervene to address the grievances of four poor African nations whose cotton farmers have been hurt by rich nations' farm subsidies. T... Continued...

World Trade Talks Show Little Progress
Reuters | By Patrick Lannin | Sept. 12, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - World trade talks near the half-way stage on Friday with rich and poor nations expected to be presented with a first attempt at compromise although they remain divided over the core issue of how to slash billions of dollars o... Continued...

Southern Senators Weigh in on WTO Cotton Talks
Associated Press | By Jeffrey McMurray | Sept. 12, 2003 WASHINGTON - Three Southern senators have endorsed a proposal by the United States to broaden the scope of this week's World Trade Organization talks, a move they hope will take the focus off subsidies for American cotton growers. The pro... Continued...

Villagers Caught in GM Food Battle
Reuters | Sept. 12, 2003 VALLE VERDE, Mexico (Reuters) -- Mexican villagers were caught in the cross-fire of the global battle over biotech food on Friday when rival pressure groups at world trade talks scuffled with each other over how best to feed the poor. A conservative U.S. group attendi... Continued...

WTO Closes Doors to Workers, Environmentalists and Farmers
Teamster Press Release | Sept. 12, 2003 (Cancun, Mexico) - Non-governmental organizations including the Teamsters, the Sierra Club and the American Federation of Teachers were thrown out of Friday's World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting between U.S. trade representatives, a U.S. Congressional del... Continued...

Thursday, September 11, 2003

The Peasants Beyond the Walls
New Statesman September 15, 2003 In 1970, a computer chose Cancun - then a quiet fishing village - as the site for casino, sun, sex and resort-style tourist development. Now it is the location of the World Trade Organisation's fifth ministerial meeting. The convention centre, blocked off by ste... Continued...

Mobilsation and Death of a Korean Farmer
Via Campesina | Sept. 11, 2003 Just as delegates at the Fifth Ministerial of the World Trade Organization were being welcomed with close attention to protocol, thousands of and indigenous people from around the world filled the streets of Cancun in a peaceful march to present our views on the pro... Continued...

Poorer Nations Plead Farmers"" Case at Trade Talks
New York Times | By Elizabeth Becker and Ginger Thompson | Sept. 10, 2003 The world trade talks began here today with the developing nations mounting a quiet revolt in the name of their farmers. With China standing among them, a group of 21 countries demanded that their proposal to cut rich na... Continued...

Cancun Day 1, and EU is Already Accused of Backtracking
Independent (London) | Philip Thornton in Cancun | Sept. 11, 2003 The British Government was embarrassed at the high-profile world trade talks by the disclosure that the European Commission was backtracking on plans to cut its massive farm subsidies. Brussels is apparently seeking to water d... Continued...

EU Reneges on Pledge to Third World
The Guardian | By Larry Elliott and Charlotte Denny | Sept. 11, 2003 The European commission was last night secretly preparing to sabotage plans to help poor countries trade their way out of poverty, as backstairs wrangling dominated the opening day of the World Trade Organisation's talks in Canc... Continued...

WTO Meeting Finds Protests Inside and Out
Los Angeles Times | By Chris Kraul | Sept. 11, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico - As thousands of anti-globalization protesters marched in sweltering heat, delegates at the opening of global trade talks were urged to spread the benefits of trade to poor countries or watch people in the developing world lose h... Continued...

"End Cotton Subsidies" Demands Africa
BBC News | Sept. 11, 2003 Several African nations have joined forces to put the issue of cotton onto the agenda of the World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun. Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali are demanding wealthier countries end subsidies to farmers which they say results in them losing $... Continued...

WTO States in Tough Talks at Cancun Summit
Reuters | Sept. 11, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Ministers got down to hard bargaining on Thursday aimed at reigniting World Trade Organization free trade talks stalled by a stand-off between rich and poor nations over farm subsidies. After hearing impassioned pleas for compromise from WTO ... Continued...

Trade Ministers Grope for Consensus, Activists Mourn Death of Militant
Agence France Presse | Sept. 11, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) - WTO ministers groped for consensus on key issues holding up a new global trade accord as activists mourned the suicide of a South Korean anti-WTO protester. Delegates from the 146-member World Trade Organization moved ahead with a p... Continued...

Mexico""s Experience Highlights Inequities in Free-Trade Policies
Arizona Republic | By Tessie Borden | Sept. 11, 2003 Mexico has become the poster child for what free trade can do to a developing country, and supporters and opponents are using its experience to push agendas at this week's meeting of the World Trade Organization. It's a fitting example. F... Continued...

The Slaves Of Money - And Our Rebellion
The Guardian | By Subcomandante Marcos | September 11, 2003 Brothers and sisters of Mexico and the world, who are gathered in Cancun in a mobilisation against neo-liberalism, greetings from the men, women, children and elderly of the Zapatista National Liberation Army. It is an honour for us that... Continued...

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

WTO Trade Summit Focusing on Agriculture this Time
Miami Herald | By Jane Bussey | Sept. 10, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico _ As 146 trade ministers begin five days of global trade talks, the most modern trade summit ever _ from the ever-present cellphones to the sophisticated electronic access cards _ is dominated by the age-old issue of agriculture. Ib... Continued...

Agriculture Tops WTO Talks in Mexico
New York Times | By Elizabeth Becker | Sept. 10, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico, Sept. 9 - The top-level trade talks beginning here on Wednesday represent the developing world's first chance to bring some balance to a global marketplace they see tilted against them. The pivotal point for them, and the t... Continued...

Agriculture on the Table At Trade Talks in Mexico
Washington Post | By Kevin Sullivan | Sept. 10, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico, Sept. 9 -- Trade officials from 146 countries -- along with rock stars, a flotilla of warships offshore and demonstrators -- have gathered at this beach resort for a five-day round of global trade negotiations that could shape t... Continued...

Editorial: Showdown in Cancún
New York Times | Sept. 10, 2003 The world's attention should be focused on the World Trade Organization's meeting at Cancún this week for reasons having nothing to do with the anti-globalization protests. The protesters will be trying to be as colorful and disruptive as they were when the W.T.O. ... Continued...

Ethical Guidelines for International Trade
L'Osservatore Romano | By Pope Johan Paul III | September 10, 2003 Participation of the Holy See in international activity is primarily for the purpose of serving the human being and promoting the dignity of the person, thereby contributing to the common good of the whole human family. In the fie... Continued...

WTO Ministerial Opens by Setting up Five Working Groups to Reconcile Draft
Sept. 10, 2003 CANCUN -- The fifth ministerial of the World Trade Organization formally opened in Cancun this morning (Sept. 10) as ministers agreed to create five working groups that will attempt to reconcile the outstanding issues in the draft declaration. They cover the Singapore issues, ... Continued...

Annan Decries Trade Policies
Washington Post | By Kevin Sullivan | Sept. 10, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico, Sept. 10 -- A global trade summit opened today with stern words from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and a march by thousands of activists -- including one who apparently committed suicide -- who said the trade policies of the... Continued...

Rich-Poor Food Fight Looms for WTO
Reuters | By Alan Wheatley | Sept. 10, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Deeply divided over the make-or-break issue of farm subsidies, rich and poor countries begin five days of talks on Wednesday aimed at preparing the ground for a deal to tear down barriers to global trade. Progress at the m... Continued...

Indian Farmers Stage Massive Anti-WTO Protest
Agence France Presse | Sept. 10, 2003 BANGALORE, India (AFP) - Thousands of farmers staged a protest in India demanding rich nations slash their trade-distorting farm subsidies as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference got under way in Cancun. Some 5,000 farmers, including men and wome... Continued...

Tuesday, September 9, 2003

World Trade Organization Watchers See More of the Same
Houston Chronicle | By Jenalia Moreno | Sept. 9, 2003 Protesters and free-traders will converge in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday through Sunday, but it seems unlikely they'll come away with much more than a sunburn, international trade experts believe. The World Trade Organizat... Continued...

Canadian Farm Groups Fighting to Keep Protection
Globe and Mail | By Steven Chase | Sept. 9, 2003 CANCUN, MEXICO -- Canadian farm groups are fighting a move at global free-trade talks in Mexico to drastically scale back the protection from foreign imports that dairy, egg and poultry producers have enjoyed for about three decades. They warn t... Continued...

Sunday, September 7, 2003

Developing Nations have Little Hope for Trade Forum
Arizona Republic | By Tessie Borden | Sept. 7, 2003 MEXICO CITY - This week's World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun will pit developing vs. developed countries in the fight over opening a place for small farmers in the world market. Few believe the meeting of trade ministers will yield a ... Continued...

Protesters Disagree on Shutting Down WTO
Seattle Post-Intelligencer | By Traci Carl | Sept. 7, 2003 CANCUN, Mexico -- As World Trade Organization ministers from around the world check into high-rise beach hotels this week, protesters meet in ramshackle offices and tent communities, fighting over how they will wage war against free trade... Continued...

Mexico Prepares Tight Security for Upcoming WTO Meeting
Agence France Presse | Sept. 7, 2003    Mexico is preparing an air, sea and land security blanket around the tourist resort of Cancun to protect the upcoming World Trade Organization meeting from threats by antiglobalization activists who have vowed to derail it, officials said Sunday.    Some... Continued...

Biological Globalisation Needs to be Checked
NRC Handelsblad | By Wouter van der Weijden | September 7, 2003 The World Trade Conference which begins next week in Mexico initiates a new round in the debate on globalisation. This debate, says Wouter van der Weijden, pays scant regard to the biological dimension of globalisation. Biological gl... Continued...

Thursday, September 4, 2003

Brazil Seeks To Unite Developing Countries In Anti-Subsidy Fight At WTO
Agence France Presse | By CLAIRE DE OLIVIEIRA | September 4, 2003 BRASILIA -- The government of Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva is appealing for greater solidarity among developing countries attending a WTO conference next week in their fight to tear down trade barriers in the dev... Continued...

A Declaration For A New Direction For American Agriculture And Agricultural Trade
IATP | September 4, 2003 We stand together at the dawn of the 21st century. We stand together as farmers, workers, religious and development organizations, environmentalists and concerned citizens calling for a comprehensive re-examination of the impact of global trade policy on food security, ... Continued...

Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Activists Fight WTO In Mexico, Hope To Reverse Globalization
Agence France Presse | BY DAVID WILLIAMS | September 3, 2003 Anti-globalization forces are looking to a WTO trade conference in Mexico as a potential milestone in a movement that burst onto the world stage in Seattle in 1999. Mexican peasants are being bussed in to join seasoned activists fig... Continued...

US Says Not Averse To Unbundling Of Singapore Trade Issues
Asia Pulse | September 3, 2003 NEW DELHI -- The US on Tuesday indicated that it was not averse to unbundling of new trade issues in the face of developing countries' resistance to bringing investment and competition policy into the work programme of WTO. "We think the appropriate way forward ... Continued...

En Cancún No Se Comprometerá El Bienestar De México: Derbez
La Jornada | By ROSA ELVIRA VARGAS | September 3, 3003 El diálogo y los encuentros que han tenido las organizaciones no gubernamentales con el gobierno mexicano, con miras a la cumbre de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC) en Cancún, representan un paso importante para una eventual agenda ... Continued...

WTO Cancun: Chat On-line with Pascal Lamy
EU Trade News | September 3, 2003 The WTO Cancún Ministerial Conference, 10-14 September, represents the half way point in the work of the Doha Development Agenda, and is a key staging post towards completion of this multilateral trade round by the end of 2004. It is the EU's number one trade pri... Continued...

WTO May Fail Poorer Nations
http://www.news24.com September 3, 2003 Kuala Lumpur - Expressing pessimism about the next round of global trade talks, South African President Thabo Mbeki suggested on Wednesday that poorer nations link up with anti-globalisation protest groups to win a better deal on international trade. "... Continued...

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

Mexico Vows To Fight Agricultural Subsidies
Agence France Presse | September 2, 2003 MEXICO CITY == Mexico vowed late Monday to fight state subsidies on agricultural products, setting the stage for a heated battle between industrialized and developing countries at an upcoming World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun. "I will state Me... Continued...

China To Resist Calls For Further Concessions In Cancun WTO Talks - Analysts
AFX.COM | September 2, 2003 BEIJING -- Chinese delegates going to the upcoming World Trade Organization talks in Cancun, Mexico will aim to resist foreign pressure for additional concessions in opening up its huge market, officials and analysts said. China has been a member of the Geneva-base... Continued...

A Truly Scary Free-Trade Treaty
The Bradenton Herald | September 2, 2003 No trade agreement has sounded more laudable than the Free Trade Area of the Americas with its stated goal to provide "free market access to goods and services for the entire continent." Even the North American Free Trade Agreement doesn't quite match its... Continued...

Regional And Bilateral Pacts Could Impede Global Trade Talks: Brunei
Agence France Presse | BY MARTIN ABBUGAO | September 2, 2003 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN -- Asia-Pacific business leaders, experts and economic officials began a meeting here Tuesday amid fears that bilateral and regional pacts could impede efforts toward a more liberalised global trading regime. Bru... Continued...

Japan Will Fight Proposal To Cut Tariffs, Expand Quotas At WTO Talks
Associated Press Worldstream | BY NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON | September 2, 2003 Japan will oppose a proposal to cut tariffs and expand import quotas at global trade talks next week, Japan's agriculture minister said Tuesday. A draft of an agreement intended to form the basis of a global trade tre... Continued...

The Worst of Times
Guardian / UK | By George Monbiot | September 2, 2003 In the First of a Three-part Series on Trade, George Monbiot Argues That the Rich World's Brutal Diplomacy is Worsening the Plight of Poor Nations The world is beginning to look like France, a few years before the Revolution. There are no ... Continued...

Monday, September 1, 2003

Nueva Visión Para El Comercio Agrícola
La Jornada | Mark Ritchie | Sepember 1, 2003 Ningún tema en preparación para la próxima reunión de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC) en Cancún ha generado un debate tan acalorado como la agricultura. Algunas organizaciones campesinas demandan que la política agrícola sea retirada por com... Continued...

French Judge Prevents Bove From Going To Cancun For WTO Talks
Agence France Presse | September 1, 2003 A French judge on Monday barred high-profile anti-globalization campaigner Jose Bove -- recently released from prison -- from attending the upcoming World Trade Organization summit in Mexico. The judge in the southern town of Millau followed a recommen... Continued...

US Cools Expectations, Analysts Say World Trade Deadline Looks Dead
Agence France Presse | September 1, 2003 US President George W. Bush's administration is already tempering expectations for progress at global trade talks in Mexico as deep divisions throw a January 1, 2005 deadline for final agreement into serious doubt, analysts say. Instead of being a half... Continued...