TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar05/4)
One of the highlights was a proposal by 8 developing countries that applications for patents relating to genetic resources and traditional knowledge should be accompanied by evidence of benefit sharing with the countries of origin
GENEVA--Canada will host a meeting of senior trade officials in Geneva April 18-19 as part of preparations for the next World Trade Organization 'mini-ministerial' gathering in early May, trade diplomats told BNA March 17.
Top trade officials from the same group of countries are due to meet for a mini-ministerial gathering in Paris May 4 on the fringes of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's annual meeting.
The Agricultural negotiations aren't faring much better. Underpinning the WTO is the ideology that all food should be produced for international export rather than local consumption.
Trade officials following the talks said it appeared to be the first time that the United States has advocated such an approach and identified specific products.
The officials said that the chairman of the WTO's negotiating group on agriculture, New Zealand's Tim Groser, gave no indication when the talks would be reconvened.
TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar05/4)
A proposal that applications for patents relating to genetic resources and traditional knowledge should be accompanied by evidence of benefit sharing with the countries of origin.
