GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank, blamed US President Barack Obama for what he called the failure of the US to take a leadership role in seeing that the Doha Round of trade negotiations succeeds.
Zoellick, in a prepared speech Monday 18 July, said “I won’t sugarcoat it. Negotiators from key countries – developed and developing – let themselves fold into defensive crouches. Tactical ploys overwhelmed strategic vision and leadership,” the World Bank’s notes on his speech say. “‘Some want to Declare Doha Dead. Instead, I urge the WTO members to get bolder: Double-Down on Doha. And do so by Thinking Ahead, and Thinking Big.’”
Zoellick was formerly a trade negotiator under President George W Bush, who helped launch the Doha Round in 2001. His strong remarks on the US leadership failure were picked up by international media but were heavily covered by US media, with varying slants: Chicago Tribune/Qatar Living (Reuters), Fox, Guardian, Voice of America, Washington Post
Switzerland and Geneva hosted numerous international meetings and dignitaries this week
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – “International Geneva”, as the city likes to profile itself when talking about the UN and other international organizations, has had a more than usually busy week.
Highlights:
Wednesday 15 June: The UN Human Rights Commission looked at allegations of human rights abuses in Cote d’Ivoire and the current situation there, with a large number of countries speaking. Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that in the six months since the UN set up a hotline for human rights abuses in December more than 12,000 calls have been received. UNHRC unofficial report with speakers’ summaries. The UNHRC also passed a statement calling on Syria to give the UN high commissioner access to the country.
Thursday 16 June: The International Labour Organization at its centenary annual Conference, adopted a set of international standards to improve “the working conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide”. The standards have been two years in the making and, for the first time, take ILO standards into the informal economy. Text of the new Convention
The two week conference has seen a stream of dignitaries and has included presentations by Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The UNHRC adopted a new set of guiding principles on business and human rights drawn up by Professor John Ruggie of Harvard. It covers state but also corporate responsibilities and gives guidelines for meeting them in several areas including the rights of indigenous peoples, women, national or ethnic groups, religious and linguistic minorities, children, persons with disabilities, and migrant workers and their families as well as business adherence to international law in situations of armed conflict.
Friday 17 June: the UN staff magazine, UN Special, carries a new feature on the nine-storey multi-coloured glass front building on the Rue de France that will be completed in November.
At the end of last week the World Trade Organization noted that it had submitted to the G20 an inter-agency report by 10 UN agencies on managing food prices, to the G20, at its request, “Options for G20 consideration on how to better mitigate and manage the risks associated with the price volatility of food and other agriculture commodities, without distorting market behaviour, ultimately to protect the most vulnerable”.
Airplanes have made it into the air, with a little help from their governments, other nations argue
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva has confirmed that an Appellate Body has backed a 2010 WTO decision that $18 billion in subsidies to Airbus by the European Union have been illegal, a decision quickly welcomed by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
“The WTO Appellate Body has confirmed without a doubt that Airbus received massive subsidies for more than 40 years and that these subsidies have greatly harmed the United States, including causing Boeing to lose sales and market share in key markets throughout the world. Today’s landmark ruling will significantly benefit the U.S. aerospace industry and American aerospace workers, simply by affirming that there must be fairness and accountability in the global race for aerospace business.”
The WTO’s ruling 18 May did not back the entire earlier decision, The Geneva organization notes in its “summary of key findings”, but it says that “the principal subsidies covered by the ruling include financing arrangements (known as “Launch Aid” or “Member state financing”) provided by France, Germany, Spain, and the UK for the development of the A300, A310, A320, A330/A340, A330-200, A340-500/600, and A380 LCA projects. The ruling also covers certain equity infusions provided by the French and German governments to companies that formed part of the Airbus consortium.”
The summary also adds a reminder that the Airbus decisions are just one side of the battle over what is called Trade in Large Civil Aircraft. “A separate dispute brought by the European Union against the United States for subsidies allegedly provided to Boeing is currently before the Appellate Body. ”
The US has argued against what it sees as direct government handouts while Europe has argued that the US subsidizes Boeing indirectly, by the Pentagon buying only from Boeing, at inflated prices.
World Trade Organization, home to the Doha Round talks (photo, Jared Bloch)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A long-awaited decision about US subsidies for Boeing is expected at the WTO (World Trade Organization) in Geneva Thursday 31 March.
Depending on who you ask, it will either go badly against the company and the US, which in June 2010 was accused at the WTO of providing up to $20 million in illegal funds to the aircraft maker, or it will be a vindication of the US point of view that Airbus has received even more in government subsidies, reports UPI news agency.
It’s been a rough week at the Doha Round trade talks, with US Ambassador Michael Punke issuing a gloomy statement last Thursday that “in light of this week’s consultations, we share with other members a significant concern that the Doha negotiations have not made the progress we had all hoped they would achieve by now.” He mentioned that “the gaps among members remain wide.”
His optimistic final note was barely enough to cover the gloom: “The United States is fully committed to working hard in coming weeks to find productive ways forward.”
Punke addressed other members at the WTO in equally gloomy tones 29 March, indicating few signs of progress and pointing to continuing major “gaps” in stances for the negotiations.
Federal Council will consult on plan for how big banks can fail, negotiate withholding tax on foreigners’ accounts
Measles, tougher penal sentences, electricity suppliers, corporate tax rates all on the 2011 schedule
Swiss Federal Council (cabinet): government publishes its 2011 agenda
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Government, fresh from the defeat of its counter-initiative in the vote on foreign convicts 28 November, has set out an ambitious agenda for work it expects to complete in 2011. This will be the final session before a new parliament is elected 23 October 2011.
Two pieces of legislation, one calling for a tougher penal code and the other for greater efforts to integrate foreigners into Swiss society, were planned before the weekend vote, but they must now be coordinated with a constitutional change, the results of the 28 November popular initiative, where Swiss voters chose automatic expulsion of foreign convicts.
Negotiations over undeclared assets in Swiss banks confirmed
The council confirmed Tuesday that negotiations are already underway with some countries, and it intends to open negotiations with other key countries, to “regularize” undeclared assets coming to Swiss banks from outside Switzerland. The main tool Switzerland intends to use is a withholding tax but the government says the negotiations will also include a commitment by the Swiss to “ensure, as far as possible, that undeclared assets from [countries with negotiations] will not in future come to Switzerland”.
Bankruptcy proceedings for key banks would limit pay, free trade agreements get priority
The cabinet will consult with interested parties on the details of how banks that are critical to the national financial system would be allowed to move into bankruptcy if they fail. A particular aspect of this is the decision by the government to limit payment to bankers for any financial institution that comes under the government’s care. Wide consultation on drafts for new laws with major impact is standard procedure in Switzerland and proposed legislation is then revised based on feedback before it goes to parliament.
Trade talks to be accelerated
In 2009 more than 5,000 visitors turned up to discover what goes on behind the scenes at the WTO, building on this success, the WTO has decided to open its doors to the public for the second time.
Location: World Trade Organization
Link out: http://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/open_day_e/…
Date: 19 Sep 2010
Title: Lecture: The Future of Global Economic Governance and the role of the WTO
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: With Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Date: 2010-06-29
Michael Punke, US ambassador to the WTO, 2010
Update 23:55 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Michael Punke has been named deputy US trade representative and US ambassador and permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, the White House announced Saturday 27 March. He will move to Geneva immediately to assume the post, according to the office of Ron Kirk, the head of the US trade office.
Punke will immediately face a number of key trade issues at the WTO, including WTO-approved tariffs on US exports to Brazil in retaliation for sugar subsidies. Another issue is the US-China trade imbalance, with the US calling for appreciation of the Chinese currency. Getting the Doha Round in Geneva moving again is another priority.
Brazil's tax on ketchup to jump to 38%
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Brazil is taking up its option, approved by the Geneva-based World Trade Organization, to slap a 30 percent import tax on fruit from the US after what it calls eight years of negotiations and four years of trying to get the US to end its cotton subsidies. The US remains the world’s largest cotton producer, while Brazil is fifth. Brazil handed its list of taxes to the WTO Monday 8 March. Cars will also be taxed and ketchup will be taxed at 38 percent instead of 18 percent.
Links to other sites: AP/Yahoo news, Fruitnet, World Trade Organization
Excerpt reprinted with permission from Intellectual Property Watch (full article)
WTO TRIPS Council considers workshop On public health amendment
By Kaitlin Mara
The World Trade Organization group on intellectual property rights met 2 March and ended early, discussing a potential workshop on an amendment intended to ease access to cheaper generic medicines in countries without a pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, a new proposal from Bolivia, and three separate longstanding IP [intellectual property] issues with no major changes.
Countries were unable to agree to hold a workshop on the so-called “paragraph 6” agreement, which allow countries to issue a compulsory license on drugs primarily intended for export to developing countries in need of cheaper generic versions and unable to manufacture them themselves.
Instead, the chair of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council said he will hold informal consultations on the issue, though the details of when and how they will be conducted are not yet decided. The United States appears to be the main opponent of holding a workshop, according to several sources. For more background on this issue, see (IPW, WTO/TRIPS, 1 March 2010).
Update 16 December Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Bananas have come close to being the fruit that broke the Doha Round’s back, but they could in the end save the talks, says the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD). The European Union (EU) and Latin American exporters initialed an agreement Tuesday 15 December at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. It will settle their dispute over the banana trade and tariffs, which has been running for more than 10 years.
“An agreement on bananas is widely viewed as a critical condition for a conclusion to the stalled WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations,” says the Geneva-based ICTSD. The organization provides the international trade system with input on sustainable development aspects of trade.
A study published Tuesday by the ICTSD shows that “a new deal on European Union banana import tariffs will be a boon to Latin American exporters but would trigger a drop in exports of the fruit from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. But the blow to ACP banana exporters may be cushioned by the aid money that the EU has promised in conjunction with the deal.”
Pascal Lamy, WTO
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, the ultimate owner of media conglomerate Thomson Reuters, has named World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy to its board of directors, the group announced 7 December. Pehr Gyllenhammar, chairman of the board, said “Mr Lamy will bring a wealth of invaluable global experience to our distinguished board.”
Lamy started his professional career as an official in the French finance ministry, worked as chief of staff under former European Commission President Jacques Delors, and subsequently became trade commissioner himself, before being nominated to head the WTO in 2005.
Links to other sites: Reuters Thomson, WTO
Photo: World Trade Organizaion 2 December 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - In a highly publicized event, its opening marred by street violence, the Seventh Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has brought together government officials from 153 countries in Geneva for three days to discuss trade.
On the other side of town, delegations of experts on foreign policy, military affairs and arms control from Russia and the US are meeting to hammer out the details of a treaty that will reduce their countries’ nuclear arsenals.
For a world with more trade
Trade ministers from the WTO’s 153 member countries have been meeting in Geneva for their biennial conference amidst the worst recession in 80 years, with trade volumes down more than 10 percent in 2009 compared to last year, according to WTO figures.
Expect tight security around the WTO buildings, but mainly at the CICG where the conference takes place
Several thousand in Geneva for WTO meeting, demonstration
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The barriers were being readied in front of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Thursday 26 November along the lake road in Geneva, and security measures around the area began to move into place for the start of the Seventh Ministerial Conference Monday 30 November, with several thousand people expected to take part.
Hotels have little space, but for local residents the main sign of the global talks will be disrupted traffic.
Detours and road closings begin Saturday 28 November, when 3,000-5,000 demonstrators are expected to take part in an anti-WTO march that starts at 14:30 at the Place Neuve.
Anti-WTO march Saturday after in centre of Geneva
The Vengeron exit (where the road split before the airport) on the A1 autoroute into Geneva, coming from Lausanne, will be closed early Saturday 28 November until the end of the march late afternoon. Traffic will be directed to the airport exit.
The march itinerary supplied by Geneva police:
Title: Global Challenges at the Intersection of Trade, Energy and the Environment — Graduate Institute and WTO
Location: World Trade Organisation, Room CR1, 154, rue de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
Link out: Click here
Description: Series of conferences organized by the Graduate Institute and WTO on the intersection between trade, energy and the environment
Start Date: 22 Oct 2009
Start Time: 9:15
End Date: 23 Oct 2009
Obligatory registration by Monday, 19 October. Please send an email to souda.tandara@wto.org.
Conference is free.
Ruth Dreifuss, former Swiss president, who grew up in the Secheron district in Geneva, attended a December 2008 presentation on the development of the international Geneva project, near the WTO.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The proposed extension to the World Trade Organization’s building at Centre William Rappard will be decided this Sunday 27 September by the city of Geneva’s voters. The vote is a strictly municipal affair, and the outcome is not binding on the canton, which has the final say on city planning decisions. But this vote is being seen as a test of the city’s commitment to the concept of Genève internationale, host to the European headquarters of the UN and to more than 30 specialized UN organizations, as well as to a large number of non-governemental organizations (NGOs).
A strong “no” vote by the citizens of Geneva would seriously weaken that commitment. Pierre Vanek, leader of the project’s opponents, points out in an interview published in Le Temps that the canton can ignore the result of a refusal, but “people wouldn’t understand why it was going against a popular vote.”
The cantonal authorities approved the building extension because the WTO urgently needs the extra space.
[includes video] Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two Boston University student interns, one at the World Health Organization, the other at the World Trade Organization, were interviewed by their university’s BU Today, on video, about their experience working in international organizations in Geneva.
The accompanying article and video are reproduced with permission from BU.
By Devin Hahn. Text by Benjamin Hall.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like I had a bit of an edge, having studied under the bright minds at the World Health Organization,” says Tara Vaughn.
Vaughn spent last fall in the Geneva Internship Program, taking courses and working at the WHO in the strategic information unit, focusing on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Her courses featured daily speakers from different realms of public health, and topics included abortion rights, public health issues that arise from natural disasters, and climate change.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – World trade rebounded sharply in the second quarter, according to World Trade Organization (WTO) figures just released. World exports (which are also world imports) increased by 7.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009, compared with the first quarter, and reached $2.88 trillion in the second quarter, up 6.6 percent overall.
The answer to the question of who is the world’s leading exporter was announced 8 September by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). China’s export figures for July are $105,420 billion, an increase of 10.4 percent over June’s figures. Germany announced that exports were € 70.5 billion, or $102,155b. This is an unadjusted increase of 6.6 percent from June 2009. Both countries were neck-and-neck in June.
Quarterly world merchandise export developments, 2005-09 (2005Q1=100, in current US dollars), WTO
All of the WTO reporting regions show a rebound in the first quarter.
WTO opens its doors
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Trade Organization (WTO) put on a grand show Sunday 6 September, with an assist from the excellent weather. The organization’s building, the Centre William Rappard, was open to the public, and offered guided tours that gave a feeling for the history of the building, which originally housed the International Labour Office, created after the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
The artwork, much of it donated by foreign governments, is spectacular.
First floor of the WTO
Director-General's office
Several stands served food from the various member countries in the Parc Barton behind the building.
Michael Punke, reproduced with permission
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Michael Punke, 44, has been nominated as the next US ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. He was one of two people nominated to top posts by US President Barack Obama Thursday 3 September. Barbara Bennett was nominated for the post of chief financial officer at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Punke’s appointment to lead the US negotiations at the WTO must now be approved by the US Senate. He is currently living in Montana with his wife and two children, where he works as an international trade consultant and writer of both fiction and non-fiction. He would replace Peter Allgeier, who has stepped down as ambassador to the WTO. He had been in the post since 2005, but had worked for the Office of the US Trade Representative since 1980.
WTO, a very large open house. Photo courtesy ®Jez S at flickr
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Trade Organization (WTO) throws open its doors Sunday 6 September to allow the community, both local and international, to become more familiar with its work and its site. The open house has been organized in response to an impending referendum, 27 September, a city-wide vote to on a planned extension to the WTO building at the Centre William Rappard, along Lake Geneva’s shore.
The extension and, earlier, threats by the WTO to move if it could not expand, have been hotly debated by the public and local media for several years.
The WTO is the world’s advocate for liberalizing international trade and solving trade disputes between its 153 member countries. On Sunday, it hosts a series of events, including guided tours and children’s activities, to highlight its presence in Geneva for over 60 years.
The WTO, founded in 1995, is the successor organization to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Gatt.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – China pulled slightly ahead of Germany as the world’s leading exporter by value in the first six months of 2009, WTO (World Trade Organization) figures show. China’s exports were worth $521.7 billion whereas Germany exported $521.6b worth of goods, the Financial Times reports 25 August.
Both countries’ exports were seriously dented by the economic downturn that followed the financial crisis in late 2008, but both have recovered strongly. Germany’s exports surged seven percent in June compared to May, the latest data available, but are still 22.3 percent lower than the previous year.
The numbers are gathered monthly for internal purposes, since the WTO does not publish individual country forecasts and generally releases trade figures at the end of the year, an economist at the WTO told GenevaLunch. “But this year, because of the economic crisis, there has been a lot of interest in the first half of the year.”
Statues of "peace" and "justice" flank the entrance to the WTO, Geneva: artist Luc Jaggi sculpted them in 1925
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - China reacted with disappointment Thursday 13 August to the report issued by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva on its publications and audiovisual materials dispute with the US. The WTO ruled that China must open its market more to the import of US films, DVDs, books and music downloads to respect commitments made when it joined the WTO in 2001.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The heads of five international organizations have put their support behind an online global petition to world leaders to insist on a successful outcome to UN-led negotiations on climate change in Copenhagen Denmark in December 2009.
The organizations are: the World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Meteorological Organization, World Trade Organization and the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development.
China has reacted to complaints filed by the US and the European Union with Geneva-based WTO (World Trade Organization) Tuesday 23 June, which accuse China of limiting exports of raw materials like zinc and bauxite. China is a major producer of both materials. Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that “China’s export policy is in line with the World Trade Organization rules, said an official with the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday. Export restriction on some industrial material aims to protect the environment and the natural resources, he said.”
“Now more than ever, trade is essential to keep America’s economy afloat,” said Ron Kirk, US trade representative in Washington, commenting on the filings. China thus favours domestic manufacturers, according to the US.
China has complained to the WTO that the US illegally restricts poultry imports from China, originally on health grounds due to avian flu. With the deepest economic downturn in 70 years, many countries are trying to promote domestic industries to the detriment of foreign ones. NYT, FT
Da Silva, Sarkozy address jobs crisis summit in Geneva
Nicolas Sarkozy (©2009 ILO)
Lula da Silva (©2009 ILO)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Brazil’s President Lula da Silva Monday spoke out against international tax shelters and the deficiencies of a capitalist system that provoked the world economic crisis. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France called for an increased role for the ILO at the international level, on a par with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank.
The two are among the heads of state participating in a three-day jobs crisis summit in Geneva that opened Monday 15 June.
The summit is part of the International Labour Organization‘s (ILO) annual labour conference, from 3-19 June, and looks to examine ways in which government policies address the labour situation in the economic downturn.
Bern and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Federal Council Friday 29 May approved an interest-free 50 year loan for CHF20 million to cover part of the cost of the second phase of renovation at the World Trade Organization building, the Centre William Rappard, in Geneva. The first phase of renovations is underway and the second phase will start in 2010. The work will enlarge the usable space inside existing buildings, notably covering two courtyards. A key element will be a new, underground modular 400-person conference hall.
Planned extension to WTO building (photo: Wittfoht)
Geneva, Switzerland (Le Temps, Fre) – A referendum on a major extension to the lake-side Centre William Rappard, which houses the World Trade Organisation (WTO), will be put to the vote in Geneva 27 September 2009. The organizers of the referendum deposited 6,919 signatures with the city of Geneva 26 May. They oppose the planned building’s supposed encroachment on public land and claim that access to the lake will be restricted by a new security fence
WTO aerial view (photo: WTO)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Pedestrian access to the lake will not be hindered by the extension to the World Trade Organization (WTO) building in the Jardin Barton on Geneva’s lakefront, the City of Geneva and the WTO told journalists at a 7 May press conference.
Wittfoht architects' sketch for WTO extension
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Trade Organization (WTO) is to have an improved and larger home in its present location, and pedestrians who like to stroll along the lakefront, or fans of the nearby William Rappard Park need not fear: the lakefront will remain open and none of the magnificent old trees will be cut down. Plans for the extension were unveiled officially Monday March 23 by the city, canton and federal government, who are all participating in the CHF130 million project.
