Services / GATS / TISA

WTO 8th Ministerial Failed to Respond to Food, Jobs and Financial Crises, 99% Say

17 December, 2011

This afternoon, a group of civil society from the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network, present in Geneva for the 8th Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO), sent a message to negotiators entering the closing plenary of the 8th Ministerial in Geneva using the Occupy Wall Street tactic of “Mic Check!”

No to Liberalization/Deregulation at WTO: Letter to G-20 Finance Ministers

13 April, 2011
14 April, 2011

Dear G-20 Finance Ministers:

As you gather in Washington, D.C. to address pressing issues facing the global economy, we call on you to safeguard governments’ ability to implement policies that will reestablish and maintain financial stability in the wake of the worst financial and economic crisis in decades.

 

Pronunciamiento de la ASC ante la nueva cumbre ministerial de la OMC

30 November, 2009
Alianza Social Continental

Entre el 30 de noviembre y el 2 de diciembre de 2009 se realizará en Ginebra la VII reunión ministerial de la OMC. Será un nuevo esfuerzo de reanudar las negociaciones de la Ronda de Doha, iniciada hace 8 años, y un escenario donde los países desarrollados nuevamente intentarán imponer su propia agenda de liberalización y desregulación de los mercados.

Call to Indian Government: No WTO-Doha compromise

18 June, 2009
Focus on the Global South
Date: 18 June, 2009 Dear Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh, As the newly formed UPA coalition government is just settling in to govern for the next five years, there is news that Commerce Minister Anand Sharma is already on his way to the United States (US) to bilaterally iron out differences to seal the trade deal that was launched during the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) 4th Ministerial Meeting in Doha. At stake in these trade negotiations are hundreds of millions of livelihoods in the farming and non-agriculture sectors that India has fought hard to preserve over the past eight years since the launch of the Doha Development Round.

Ken Saro-Wiwa: the day of truth?

20 May, 2009
Transnational Institute / The Guardian
It will send shockwaves through boardrooms if the predictions of the executed campaigner are proved right in a US court

Lula Calls on Saudis to Join Brazil in Creating Petrochemical Powerhouse

18 May, 2009
Brazzilmag
Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said this Sunday, May 17, at the end of a two-day trip to Saudi Arabia, that he called on king Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the two countries to jointly seek reciprocal investment opportunities.

EU raises stakes for US in biodiesel battle

5 March, 2009
Financial Times

The European Union is gearing up to slap duties on imported US biodiesel in the latest sign of rising trade tensions as world economies slump into
recession.

ASEAN tables emergency safeguard proposal in GATS talks

29 March, 2007
Riaz K. Tayob, TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar07/12)
After years of protracted negotiations among WTO members on having an emergency safeguard mechanism to deal with adverse economic impacts as a result of services liberalization in the WTO, the ASEAN group (excluding Singapore) has tabled a proposal on it.

Another ‘Enchilada’ on Services

19 March, 2007
Washington Trade Daily
A second Doha Development Agenda services 'Enchilada' session was held yesterday - where Malaysia and South Korea spelled out what they intend to present in their revised services offers and stated 'must-haves' in the final package, trade diplomats said

WTO Services negotiations set to intensify

13 February, 2007
Go Chien Yen, TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues
At a meeting of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services at the WTO on Friday 2 February, WTO members reiterated that services is central to the 'triangle' of issues on market access in agriculture and NAMA negotiations.

Problems in providing universal access to services highlighted at UNCTAD meeting

30 November, 2006
By Riaz K Tayob, TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues
Developing countries face challenges and problems in providing universal access to services to their people, and these were brought up in an expert meeting on "Universal Access to Services" organised by UNCTAD last week.

Developing countries voice opposition to ?necessity test? in GATS

30 November, 2006
By Riaz K Tayob, TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues
At an UNCTAD expert meeting on universal access to services held last week, the diplomats of several developing countries voiced opposition to the inclusion of the 'necessity test' principle in disciplines being negotiated for domestic regulation in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the WTO.

A Services Fire-Side Chat

27 November, 2006
Washington Trade Daily
A fire-side chat yesterday with a score of Doha Development Agenda services negotiators failed to bring convergence on setting new time-lines for submitting revised offers as key members remain divided over how different elements within the services mandate ought to proceed at this juncture

Attacking China on Services

27 November, 2006
Washington Trade Daily
Industrialized countries - led by the United States, the European Union, Canada and Japan - yesterday attacked China in the World Trade Organization for not complying with its accession commitments in the areas of financial services

Pursuing a Services Re-start

19 November, 2006
Washington Trade Daily
Washington and Brussels on Friday jointly reached out to a score of developing countries - including Brazil, South Africa, Thailand and Kenya, among others - to accelerate the Doha Development Agenda services negotiations, saying the time has come to enter into hard bargaining on what each can give and take in both market openings and rules.

G33 slams “flawed” World Bank paper on special products

31 October, 2006
By Martin Khor, TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov06/2)
The Group of 33 in the WTO has complained to World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz about a paper on Special Products (SPs) produced by the Bank which the Group says contains a serious misrepresentation of the purpose and effects of SPs.

Report 3 on UNCTAD meetings: Doha talks should resume but on development basis

9 October, 2006
By Martin Khor, TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct06/04)
The World Trade Organisation's Doha negotiations should resume as soon as possible, and on the basis of the development mandate and principle so that the developing countries will really benefit, according to many developing countries individually or through their groupings.

Schwab calls on services industry to increase trade lobbying efforts

5 October, 2006
Inside US Trade
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab this week told members of the services industry that they are leaving too much of the lobbying for approval of trade agreements to agriculture groups, which are taking on that effort to an extent that is disproportionate to the importance of agriculture for the U.S. economy.

Mandelson: Enlarged EU preserves its public services model in WTO

26 September, 2006
The EU and the WTO
The EU has become the first member of the World Trade Organization to use the provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to enable Members to modify their trade commitments.

U.S., EU Reach Agreement to Open European Market to U.S. Services Companies

25 September, 2006
By Gary G. Yerkey, International Trade
The United States and the European Union have concluded an agreement that will provide new commercial opportunities for U.S. banks and other service providers in the 25-nation EU, U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab announced Sept. 25.