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Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS,
Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website |
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| Members brainstorm on initiating “second wave” of WTO fisheries subsidies talks |
| WTO members met at an informal retreat in the French town of Evian-les-Bains on 10 October in order to share ideas and think creatively on how to approach the “second wave” of negotiations to further discipline harmful fisheries subsidies. They also underlined the urgent need to appoint a new chair to lead the negotiations. |
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| Colombia initiates appeal arbitration in frozen fries dispute, discloses panel report |
| Colombia has initiated arbitration proceedings under Article 25 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) to review the findings of a WTO dispute panel in “Colombia — Anti-Dumping Duties on Frozen Fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands” (DS591). The notice of appeal was circulated to WTO members on 10 October. In addition, Colombia and the European Union, the complainant in the dispute, agreed to make public the panel findings. |
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| Brazil seeks to join Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft |
| The Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft discussed today (10 October) the process for reviewing Brazil’s application to join the WTO’s plurilateral Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft. This is the first accession request to be reviewed by WTO members in this Committee. All recently acceding members took part in negotiations in the context of their accession to the WTO. |
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| Count on WTO in coordinated action to fight food security crisis, says DDG Paugam |
| The WTO delivered important outcomes at its 12th Ministerial Conference in June and is actively engaged in many international initiatives to tackle food insecurity, Deputy Director-General Jean-Marie Paugam said at a meeting of the Committee on World Food Security on 10 October in Rome. He highlighted the importance of keeping markets open, re-energizing WTO agriculture negotiations to achieve an equitable international food system and expediting the implementation of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. “We are committed to fight the global food security crisis,” he concluded. DDG Paugam’s full speech is available below. |
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| Officials from French-speaking African countries complete a three-week course in Geneva |
| A total of 26 government officials from 11 African countries classified as least developed countries (LDCs) attended a WTO introductory trade policy course in Geneva from 19 September to 7 October. This course — the first to be carried out in person since 2019 — sought to develop the officials’ international trade-related knowledge and skills, and to build their capacity to analyse, formulate and implement different types of trade policy. |
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| DG Okonjo-Iweala stresses importance of SPS, TBT transparency to facilitate trade |
| Speaking on 3 October at the launch of the new Transparency Champions courses, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala underlined the importance of transparency as a fundamental pillar of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement. “Transparency is a core principle of the WTO. Being transparent about these types of measures is critical to facilitate trade, making the business environment more stable and predictable, thus encouraging investment,” she said. |
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