From UNCTAD
The State of Commodity
Dependence 2012
By country and region
|
Aid for Trade aims to help developing
countries, particularly least-developed countries, develop the
trade-related skills and infrastructure that is needed to implement and
benefit from WTO agreements and to expand their trade.
The success of the initiative depends on creating closer cooperation in
national capitals between trade, finance and development officials of
WTO member governments. This needs to be matched by close cooperation
at the international and regional level among intergovernmental
organisations with core responsibilities in these areas and their
member governments.
Aid for Trade Initiative
The Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2010-2011 was issued
on 27 November 2009. The aim of the Work Programme is to keep an
on-going focus on Aid for Trade, a “spotlight effect”, which will
generate continued impetus to resource mobilization, mainstreaming,
operationalization and implementation. The Work Programme is
complemented by an indicative calendar of Aid-for-Trade meetings
culminating in a Third Global Review of Aid for Trade in 2011
The calendar will be regularly updated to provide information on
progress achieved in the different areas of the Aid-for-Trade
initiative.
...The two Global Reviews in 2007 and 2009 have comprehensively demonstrated that Aid
for Trade is making progress. Partner countries recognise the need to
mainstream trade in their national and regional development strategies,
and are making progress towards this objective. Donors are responding
by mobilising additonal resources...
|
WTO - Statistics on International Trade------------- International Trade Center
UNCTAD - Trade and Development Reports (TADR)
UNCTAD - Handbook of Statistics
UNCTAD - World Investment Reports
The Complete World Development
Report Online |
UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development
|
CEPAL REVIEW 98 • August 2009
Determinants of world
manufacturing exports
to China, 1990-2006
Roberto Álvarez E., Eugenio Figueroa B.,
María Pía Figueroa Z. and Macarena Palma E.
This paper studies the determinants of
manufacturing exports to
China. Data from 79 countries for the 1990-2006 period and estimates
of gravity equations are used to analyse the effects of countries’
factor
endowment, geographical characteristics and degree of economic
openness. The results are consistent with the factor abundance model
and reveal that economies with a larger human capital endowment export
a greater volume of manufactures to China. Having a large economy
and being geographically close to China also make a country more
likely to export manufactures to it. The results do not indicate that
other
characteristics of countries, such as openness to trade or an outlet to
the
sea, play an important role; nor does the endowment per worker of land
or
capital. The implications of this study should be of interest to
economies
seeking to benefit from the remarkable dynamism of the Chinese economy
by diversifying their exports into manufactures.
|
UNCTAD Handbook of statistics 2008
Emerging
economies are frequently in the spotlight, but overall, industrialized
nations continued to dominate global economic activity. They accounted
for 71% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007, although they
had only 15% of the world´s population. They were responsible for 58.6%
of the value of merchandise exports for the year, and for 71.9% of
services exports. On the other hand, the rate of growth of exports of
goods and services in 2007 was slightly higher for developing countries
than for developed countries.
This year´s handbook provides
a broad range of statistics covering individual countries, regions, and
the world at large. Among the topics covered are:
- International
merchandise trade, with the most recent 2007 data available, including
breakdowns of exports and imports for major products
- International
trade in services
- Commodity
prices, including long-term series and calculations on the instability
of prices, and a special focus given to the production and consumption
of aluminium and copper
- International
finance, with balance-of-payments statistics and special attention to
foreign direct investment (FDI), workers´ remittances, international
reserves, official financial flows, and external debt -- all topics of
major importance
- Development
indicators linked to national accounts and population data.
|
From foreignaffairs.org - author
update, August 27, 2008
China and The Collapse
of Doha
By C. Fred Bergsten
On issues ranging from exchange rates to energy policy, foreign aid,
and the multilateral trading system, China's actions over the past few
years have challenged some of the most fundamental norms and rules of
the existing global order.
China's key role in torpedoing the Doha Round of global trade
negotiations in July is the latest, and a critically important, case in
point. China has a huge national interest in maintaining the global
trading system and enhancing its effectiveness; this system has played
a crucial role in facilitating China's breathtaking growth. The
widespread rise of anti-China protectionism in the United States and
Europe (not to mention many developing countries) could choke off
China's exports and sharply curb its growth. The erosion of the global
trading system would cause major problems for China and damage the
world economy.
|
From The World Bank Group
World Trade Indicators 2008
Benchmarking Policy and Performance
By R. Islam and G. Zanini
Tariff protection, both with and without the inclusion of preferences,
has fallen consistently in all regions and income groups from the
mid-1990s to 2007, and especially in low-income countries, where
average MFN applied tariffs fell 46 percent (10 percentage points).
High-income countries, which were earlier reformers, still have the
lowest average tariffs at 6 percent compared to a developing country
average of 11 percent. Other measures, such as the World Bank’s Trade
(MFN) Tariff Restrictiveness Index (MFN TTRI), confi rm this pattern.
...But average tariffs do not reveal the whole pattern of protection.
High-income countries have higher nontariff barriers, greater tariff
escalation and dispersion, and much higher maximum tariffs than
low-income countries; that is, they protect certain sectors much more
than others. Many of these protected sectors and goods are of special
interest to developing-country exporters.
...Developing country exporters face higher export hurdles at the upper
end of production than at the lower end. Most countries protect
finished goods more than unfinished goods, but tariff escalation is
higher in the high-income OECD countries than in developing countries.
This pattern is amplified in the agriculture sector...
|
CEPAL
REVIEW 93 - December 2007
The comparative
advantage fallacy and
a rule for convergence
Esteban Pérez Caldentey and Anesa Ali
The gains from trade argument is based
on the principle of
comparative advantage. However, this principle is predicated on “tacit”
axioms, presenting an argument which supports a proposition different
to
the one it purports to prove. This paper presents an alternative
treatment,
using a leader-follower model to show that free trade can in fact
accentuate
differences and growth disparities between countries. More importantly,
it
argues that the follower economy can catch up with the leader economy
only if the ratio between the income-elasticity of the follower
country’s
exports to the rest of the world and the income-elasticity of its
imports is
greater than the ratio between the induced productivity of the leader
and
that of the follower country. This is our rule for convergence.
Notes by Róbinson Rojas - 1998
The poverty of international trade theory
Since David Ricardo's "Economic Principles" were published in 1817,
international trade theory has been based on his main tenets, even
when "fine tuned" by Heckschen, Ohlin and Samuelson (trying to build
a neo-classical framework for the theory), Leontieff and Vernon
(attempting the introduction of the concept of technology), and
Krugman (oligopoly theory). By and large, with fine tuning and all,
still the three basic assumptions of the classical trade theory are
the main conceptual structure of the model. That is, capital flows,
technology transfer and labour migration are excluded from the model.
Balance of Payments
Accounts: a definition
Róbinson Rojas - 1997
Structural deficit on Balance on Payments (notes)
"Neo-classical trade theory will argue that "international prices
and costs of production determine how much a country should
trade", and, therefore, outward-looking strategies of production
are neccesary. Of course, if international prices and costs of
production are mainly the business of transnational corporations
and not domestic economies, then the neo-classical argument will
be valid only for the welfare of transnational corporations and
not the host countries".
|
From The
World Bank
Global Agricultural Trade and
Developing Countries- 2005
Editors: M. Ataman Aksoy and
John C. Beghin
Agricultural Trade Reforms Key To Reducing Poverty
WASHINGTON, January 10, 2005 — With almost 70 percent of the poor
people in developing countries living in rural areas, agricultural
sector reforms - in particular global trade liberalization - will be
crucial in giving them opportunities for better lives, according to a
new World Bank report released today.
The report, Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries,
edited by M. Ataman Aksoy and John C. Beghin, notes that despite the
recent framework agreement in Geneva, agricultural protection continues
to be among the most contentious issues in global trade negotiations.
High protection of agriculture in industrial countries was the main
cause of the breakdown of the Cancún Ministerial Meetings in 2003, and
remains among the key outstanding issues in the Doha Round of global
trade negotiations.
|
The neoliberal point of view
Freer
Trade?
Special Edition,
December 2005 Web Exclusive
Sixty years of multilateral trade negotiations have resulted in
ever-lower barriers and ever-higher economic growth worldwide. There is
still a chance that the Doha Round — the current series of trade talks
— could continue this pattern, but on the verge of the WTO's Hong Kong
ministerial meeting, the prospects do not look good. In this special
edition of Foreign Affairs, some of the world's top experts on
international trade consider what will be necessary for the Doha Round
to succeed — and what might happen if it does not.
-------------------- |
|
From the Center for Economic and Policy
Research
The Scorecard on
Globalization 1980-2000
Twenty Years of Diminished Progress
M. Weisbrot, D. Baker,
E. Kraev and J. Chen - July 11, 2001
It is commonly accepted that the increased opening to international
trade and financial
flows that has occurred in the vast majority of countries in the world
has been an overall success.
Even critics of globalization have generally accepted that the reforms
of the last two decades, in
low to middle-income countries, have boosted economic growth rates.
They have argued that this
growth has left many people behind, and has often been at the expense
of the natural
environment.
This paper looks at the major economic and social indicators for all
countries for which
data are available, and compares the last 20 years of globalization
(1980-2000) with the previous
20 years (1960-1980). These indicators include: the growth of income
per person, life
expectancy, mortality among infants, children, and adults, literacy,
and education.
For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last 20
years have shown
a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous two
decades. For each indicator,
countries were divided into five roughly equal groups, according to
what level the countries had
achieved by the start of the period (1960 or 1980). Among the
findings:...
--
Poor Numbers: The Impact
of Trade Liberalization on World Poverty
M. Weisbrot, D. Rosnik,
and D. Baker - November 18, 2004
Many economists and policy analysts have promoted trade liberalization
in rich countries as the most effective way to reduce poverty in the
developing world. Cline (2004), one of the leading references on this
topic, projected that rich country trade liberalization would lift 540
million people out of poverty. This paper analyzes and corrects this
projection. It notes that:....
--
Going Down with the
Dollar: The Cost to Developing Countries of a Declining Dollar
M. Weisbrot, D.
Rosnick, adn D. Baker - September 20, 2004
In the years since the East Asian financial crisis in 1997, many
developing countries have
sought to increase their holdings of foreign reserves, as a way to
protect their currencies
against financial instability. Since most countries hold most of their
reserves in dollars,
this build-up in reserves has led to a large accumulation of dollar
holdings.
These large holdings of dollars could lead to substantial losses in
wealth for developing
countries. The current account deficit of the United States exceeds
$600 billion at an
annual rate, or more than 5.7 percent of GDP. This deficit is clearly
unsustainable, and
will almost certainly result in a large decline in the value of the
dollar over the next
decade. Such a decline will substantially reduce the value of the
dollar reserves held by
developing countries.
Based on a sample of reserve holdings among developing countries, this
paper shows that
the drop in the dollar will lead to a loss in the value of reserve
holdings for the average
developing country among the group examined of between 1.8 percent and
5.6 percent of
GDP.
--
Dangerous Trends: The
Growth of Debt in the U.S. Economy
D. Baker - September 7,
2004
The sharp reversal in the budget situation under the Bush
administration, from record surpluses to near record deficits, has
received a great deal of attention from the media and the general
public. However, two other forms of debt – household debt and foreign
debt – have also been rising at an unsustainable pace. The trends in
these other forms of debt have gone largely unnoticed, even though the
implications for the long-term health of the economy are at least as
serious as a continued sharp rise in government debt.
--
Double Bubble: The Implications
of the Over-Valuation of the Stock Market and the Dollar
D. Baker - June 2000
The only way that stocks can again provide returns that include a
significant risk premium over government bonds is if they first fall by
close to fifty percent in price. At a lower price to earnings ratio,
stocks will have a higher dividend yield. Currently the dividend yield
(including money paid out as share buybacks) is close to 2.0 percent.
If stock prices fell by fifty percent, the dividend yield would rise to
4.0 percent, which is approximately the historic average. This would
allow the total return on stocks (dividends plus capital gains) to be
more in line with the historic average.
It is important to note that there is no plausible growth path for
profits under which current stock valuations would make sense. Even if
profits grew far more rapidly than CBO projects, stocks would still be
providing returns which would be far below their historic average, and
not much above the returns available on government bonds.
--------- |
| |
World Trade Organisation
"Information
about the institution. The WTO is a rules-based,
member-driven organization — all decisions are made by the member
governments, and the rules are the outcome of negotiations among
members."
---
Trade
Justice Movement
The Trade
Justice Movement is a coalition of more than 60 members organisations.
We campaign for trade justice - not free trade - with the rules
weighted to benefit poor people and the environment.
|
U.S. Government:
Country Reports on Economic Policy and Trade
The State
Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of
information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for
material released since President George W. Bush took office on that
date. This site is not updated so external links may no longer
function. Contact us with any questions about finding
information.
NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as
an endorsement of the views contained therein.
--
Foreign
Trade Statistics
FOREIGN TRADE is the official
source for U.S. export and import statistics and responsible for
issuing regulations governing the reporting of all export shipments
from the United States. If you're searching for import or export
statistics, information on export regulations, commodity
classifications, or a host of other trade related topics, this is the
place to get the information you need.
|
UNCTAD:
Trade and development report 2001
Overview: English
Aperçu
Général: Francais
Panorama General: Castellano
The UNCTAD
secretariat has for some time been warning that excessive financial
liberalization is creating a world of systemic instability and
recurrent crises. A common
response has been to blame such crises on misguided policies and crony
investment practices in emerging markets. Whether similar accusations
will surface
as financial excesses and wasteful investments are exposed in the
United States
by economic slowdown remains to be seen, but they would be no more
helpful than
they were in the aftermath of the Asian crisis.
Markets can and do get it wrong, and
for developing and developed countries alike. The onus is still on
policy makers to
find preventive measures and appropriate remedies.
Part Two: Reform of the international financial architecture
The increased
frequency and virulence of
international currency and financial crises, involving
even countries with a record of good governance
and macroeconomic discipline, suggests that
instability is global and systemic. Although there
is room to improve national policies and institutions,
that alone would not be sufficient to deal
with the problem, particularly in developing countries,
where the potential threat posed by inherently
unstable capital flows is much greater.
A
strengthening of institutions and arrangements
at the international level is essential if the threat
of such crises is to be reduced and if they are to
be better managed whenever they do occur. Yet,
despite growing agreement on the global and systemic
nature of financial instability, the international
community has so far been unable to achieve
significant progress in establishing effective global
arrangements that address the main concerns
of developing countries.
|
| |
UNCTAD:
Trade, external financing and economic growth in
developing countries. 1999
The belief that
rapid integration into the global
economy would create more favourable conditions
for growth in developing countries has
permeated much thinking in development policy
in the past two decades. Severe and persistent
balance-of-payments crises in the 1980s revealed
the full extent to which faster growth in the South
had come to depend on a steady rise in export earnings
and on assured capital inflows, and how harmful
interruptions to these external flows could be.
When they occurred, they were interpreted as
proof of self-inflicted structural wounds in developing
countries resulting from years of inwardoriented
development strategies and misguided
policies. Close integration into the world economy
through rapid liberalization of trade, finance and
investment was thus seen as the surest foundation
for success, allowing developing countries to overcome
resource and foreign-exchange constraints
on capital accumulation and growth...
|
| |
UNCTAD:
World
Investment Report 1998: Trends and Determinants (press)
Important shifts
are emerging in the key factors influencing foreign business
investments.
Governments face new challenges in attracting foreign investment,says
UNCTAD Secretary-General Ricupero.
|
| |
UNCTAD:
Trade and development report 1999
(overview)
While the
developed world suffered little from the Asian financial crisis that
broke out in 1997,
and even derived some benefits from it, the impact on the rest of the
world has been dramatic. Virtually
all developing countries and transition economies were affected. It
played havoc in East Asia and
Russia throughout 1998, set back the progress achieved in Latin
America, and in the most seriously
affected countries wiped out the fruits of decades of economic growth
and poverty reduction. In its
wake, growth in the developing world slowed from almost 6 per cent in
1996 to under 2 per cent in
1998, and for the first time in 10 years it was less than in industrial
countries. In the transition
economies the impact of the Russian crisis was to plunge the region as
a whole into recession following
positive growth in 1997 for the first time since the beginning of the
transition process.
The two largest developing countries, China and India, have been
striking exceptions in this
otherwise bleak landscape. It is notable that both of these countries
had resisted the temptation to
pursue premature trade liberalization and rapid integration into the
global financial system.
|
UNCTAD:
Trade and development report 1998
(overview)
For some time
the UNCTAD secretariat has maintained that the world economy needs to
grow by
at least 3 per cent, year in, year out, if a dent is to be made in
unemployment in industrialized countries
and poverty in developing countries. Most countries in the South need
to grow at twice this rate if
they are to overcome their social and technological handicaps and close
the income gap with the small
club of rich industrial economies. During the 1990s this 3 per cent
target has been reached only in
1996-1997, thanks to recovery in Latin America and Africa and continued
strong growth in East Asia
and the United States.
Last year’s Trade and Development Report argued that international
financial instability constituted
the single most important impediment to attaining steady and rapid
growth. Modern financial
markets are organized less to create wealth and employment than to
extract rent by buying and selling
second-hand assets, and the “discipline” these markets exert on
policymakers reinforces the advantages
of existing wealth holders. The Report came out once more against
“big-bang” financial
liberalization in developing countries, pointing out that successful
examples of modern industrialization
and development distinguished themselves by the ways they managed
integration into the global
economy.
|
UNCTAD:
Trade and Development Report, 1997 (press release 1)
The big story of the world economy since the early 1980s has been
increasing integration through the unleashing of market forces. But
there is also another story, one that is attracting increasing
attention
in the 1990s .... social and economic divisions among, and within,
countries are widening.
This poses a serious threat of a political backlash against
globalization, one that is as likely to come from the North as from
the South. Such a backlash could reverse beneficial reforms achieved in
developed and developing countries over the past decade. And, it may
provoke a roll back of some of the more longstanding achievements of
economic integration. The 1920s and 1930s provide a stark, and
disturbing, reminder of just how quickly faith in markets and economic
openness can be overwhelmed by political events.
|
UNCTAD:
Trade and Development Report, 1997 (press release 2)
Growth in the world economy this year will again continue to be too
slow to make a significant dent in poverty in the South and
unemployment in the North, UNCTAD forecasts in its annual Trade and
Development Report 1997 (text
here) (216 pages). Despite success in reducing inflation almost
everywhere, expectations of faster growth have so far not been
fulfilled. Since 1990, the world economy has been growing slower than
in the previous decade, and the outlook is for a continuation of slow
growth. Meanwhile, global trade imbalances similar
to those of the 1980s have reappeared.
|
From the World Trade
Organization
World merchandise exports/imports by
region and selected economies.1980/1998 |
From UNCTAD
Value of exports and imports by
region and country, 2000 |
OECD.-Imports of tropical
woods, 1995
Selected countries: plywood
production, 1970-1995
International trade: exports. Data
for 1990
International trade: imports. Data
for 1990
Exports early 1990s. All economies.
In US$.
Exports early 1990s. Free-market
economies. As % of total.
Non-fuel
commodities: international prices 1980-1996
World Trade 1988-1998 (in volume) |
Chicago Board of Trade
The Chicago
Board of Trade (CBOT® ), established in 1848, is a leading
futures and futures-options exchange. More than 3,600 CBOT
member/stockholders trade 50 different futures and options products at
the CBOT by open auction and electronically. Volume at the Exchange in
2005 surpassed 674 million contracts, the highest yearly total recorded
in its history. |
Institute for
International Economics:
Working papers
In 1994 the
Institute launched a series of working papers. The series is intended
to convey the preliminary results of our ongoing research. The research
described in these papers is preliminary and has not gone through the
usual review process for Institute publications. The views expressed in
these papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the individual members of the Institute's Board or
Advisory Committee. We welcome feedback from readers and encourage you
to convey your comments and criticisms directly to the authors.
|
ELDIS:
Trade and gender
Trade policy |
| |
Foreign Policy IN FOCUS
Patrick Bond, September 10, 2010
Dodging World Bank
Schizophrenia: The looting of Africa continues?
Reinvestment is negligible and the prices, royalties and taxes paid are
inadequate to compensate the wasting-away of Africa’s natural wealth.
Anti-extraction campaigns by (un)civil society are the only hope for a
reversal of these neocolonial relations.
Though it’s easy to prove, using even the World Bank’s main study of
natural resource economics, apparently the looting allegation is
controversial. When I made it during a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) interview last
week, the World Bank’s chief economist for Africa, Shanta
Devarajan, immediately contradicted me, claiming (twice) that I am not
in command of ‘the facts.’
|
G.J. Bannister and K. Thugge,
International Trade and Poverty
Alleviation, 2001
How does trade
liberalization affect the poor, and how can they be protected against
its negative short-term effects?
|
UNCTAD X:
documents and papers |
From United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - 2003
Making Global Trade Work for People
Trade and human development have a complex relationship. Understanding
their
interaction requires understanding the complexity of trade policy and
human
development as part of broader development policy
(This text is compulsory reading for my students.
Dr. Róbinson Rojas)
|
Corporate Europe Observer (1999)
TNC control over Global
Trade Politics
The subject of this special issue of the Corporate Europe Observer
is the World Trade Organisation, which in the first four years of its
existence has built up a dark environmental and social record. Large
corporations have been the satisfied beneficiaries of its treaties,
while communities and small farmers around the world have suffered from
WTO-promoted ‘free trade’. This outcome is hardly surprising, as
corporate lobby groups have been closely involved in the shaping of
many of the WTO agreements. The WTO's model of economic development is
increasingly identified as being incompatible with ecological
sustainability. In its rulings in trade disputes on bananas, beef
hormones and numerous other products, the WTO has put trade above all
else, overruling environmental, social, consumer and health
considerations.
More
Newsletters
|
Papers and reports from Oxfam:
2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001
Oxfam policy papers and reports on
trade and livelihoods
All costs,
no benefits: How TRIPS-plus intellectual property rules in the
US-Jordan FTA affect access to medicines.
March 2007
The USA continues to impose TRIPS-plus rules on developing countries,
thus preventing poor people from accessing inexpensive, generic
medicines. Jordan was required under the terms of its WTO accession
package and its free trade agreement (FTA) with the USA to introduce
TRIPS-plus rules. Medicine prices have increased drastically, and
TRIPS-plus rules were partly responsible for this increase.
Furthermore, stricter levels of intellectual property protection have
conferred few benefits with respect to foreign direct investment,
domestic research and development, or accelerating introduction of new,
effective medicines. Medicine prices will continue to rise in Jordan,
but the country will be unable to use TRIPS safeguards to reduce their
cost. Other developing countries implementing or considering FTAs with
TRIPS-plus rules should consider the consequences for public health.
Signing
Away The Future: How trade and investment agreements between rich and
poor countries undermine development.
March 2007
The quiet advance of trade and investment agreements between rich and
poor countries threatens to deny developing countries a favourable
foothold in the global economy. Driven by the USA and the European
Union, these agreements impose far-reaching rules that place severe
restrictions on the very policies developing countries need in order to
fight poverty.
Pricing
Farmers out of Cotton: The costs of World Bank reforms in Mali
March 2007
With global trade talks stalled at the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
rich-country cotton subsidies remain unabated, hurting poor cotton
farmers. World Bank led reforms to privatise the Malian cotton sector,
including the adoption of a new price- setting mechanism, are further
exacerbating the dire conditions in cotton-producing communities. A
minimum level of price stability is vital for income security in the
cotton sector and to prevent further slides into poverty. The wider
donor community should provide adequate funds to finance a
cotton-sector support fund, as well as invest in rural extension
services and sustain capacity building of farmers to enable them to
maximise their returns from new market opportunities.
Robbing the
Poor to Pay the Rich? How the United States keeps medicines from the
world’s poorest
December 2003
Impressive advances in medicine and technology have boosted
health and extended life expectancy – but not for everyone.
Vital new medicines for diseases such as HIV/AIDS are priced
out of reach of the millions of sick people in the developing
world, in part due to global patent rules which restrict the
availability of affordable generic versions of patented
medicines. In 2001, all members of the World Trade Organization
adopted the ‘Doha Declaration’, promising to prioritize public
health over private patent rights and to promote ‘access to
medicines for all’. This paper examines how the government of
the United States is contravening this commitment by using
technical assistance, bilateral and regional trade agreements,
and the threat of trade sanctions to ratchet up patent protection
in developing countries. This policy benefits the influential U.S.
pharmaceutical industry while pushing medicines further out of
the reach of poor people.
The
Euro-Mediterranean Agreements: Partnership or Penury?
November 2003
Impressive advances in medicine and technology have boosted
health and extended life expectancy – but not for everyone.
Vital new medicines for diseases such as HIV/AIDS are priced
out of reach of the millions of sick people in the developing
world, in part due to global patent rules which restrict the
availability of affordable generic versions of patented
medicines. In 2001, all members of the World Trade Organization
adopted the ‘Doha Declaration’, promising to prioritize public
health over private patent rights and to promote ‘access to
medicines for all’. This paper examines how the government of
the United States is contravening this commitment by using
technical assistance, bilateral and regional trade agreements,
and the threat of trade sanctions to ratchet up patent protection
in developing countries. This policy benefits the influential U.S.
pharmaceutical industry while pushing medicines further out of
the reach of poor people.
Running
into the Sand: Why failure at the Cancun trade talks threatens the
world’s poorest people
September 2003
In September 2003 world trade ministers meet in Cancun Mexico to start
a new phase in the Doha ‘development round’. The meeting provides an
opportunity to reform the unfair trade rules that systematically
disadvantage the world’s poorest countries. Urgent action is needed to
stop agricultural dumping, protect access to affordable medicines,
improve market access, and prevent damaging new rules on foreign
investment. Failure to deliver will undermine efforts to tackle global
poverty and further damage the credibility of the World Trade
Organisation.
The
Emperor’s New Clothes: Why rich countries want a WTO investment
agreement
May 2003
Despite an overcrowded agenda and the lack of progress on matters
crucial to development, rich countries, especially members of the
European Union, are pushing for the launch of investment negotiations
at the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Cancun in
September 2003. When properly regulated, foreign investment can
contribute to sustainable development. However, the proposed WTO
agreement on investment will establish rules that developing countries
do not need and cannot afford, enhancing investors’ ‘rights’ while
undermining governments’ capacity to pursue pro-development policies.
This is why Oxfam calls on WTO members to reject the launch of
investment negotiations in Cancun.
Make Trade
Fair in the Americas: Three Reasons to Say No to the FTAA
February 2003
Europe and the Coffee Crisis: A
Plan for Action
February 2004
Liberia:
critical time to end the violence - a briefing note
November 2003
|
Resources selected from CAFOD's archive:
"CAFOD is
the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the official overseas
development and relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and
Wales. CAFOD believes that all human beings have a right to dignity and
respect, and that the world's resources are a gift to be shared equally
by all men and women, whatever their race, nationality or religion.
Underpinning CAFOD's work is a deeply held set of values that are
central to its ethos and identity. We act based on principles of
compassion, solidarity, stewardship and hope. Confronted by immense
poverty and suffering, CAFOD's most fundamental response is compassion
- standing alongside excluded communities, sharing resources, uniting
in prayer, defending rights and challenging the systems that keep
people poor.
CAFOD draws its inspiration from Scripture, the Church's social
teaching, and the experiences and hopes of the poor. Our mission is to
promote human development and social justice in witness to Christian
faith and Gospel values."
All the
latest posts on key areas of our work
Advocacy
Climate
change
Emergencies
HIV and
AIDS
Mining
|
|
|
