World Trade Organization Notices for Dec 8-10
The World Trade Organization (WTO) posted the following notices from Dec. 8-10 (may have to click twice on source documents for proper viewing):
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- Observorship for Vietnam. The Committee on Government Procurement on Dec. 5 approved a request by Vietnam for observer status. The decision means the total number of observers to the multilateral Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) is 26. China applied for GPA accession in December 2007; New Zealand submitted its application in September 2012. (here)
- Aid for Trade improvements. Director-General Pascal Lamy addressed the Workshop on Aid for Trade in Brussels. Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade next year will “highlight the main constraints which firms in developing countries face in connecting to value chains and the support that is being provided to address the constraints.” He also noted that the WTO is "for the first time directly targeting the private sector in the monitoring exercise." (here)
- Aid for cotton trade to be improved. Development assistance for mainly African cotton producers since 2005 continues to head toward $400 million as donors and recipients seek to increase the flow and find better ways of assessment. Members present at the latest consultation meeting included the 'Cotton-4' proponents of cotton trade reform - Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. Members agreed that efforts should be made to increase the proportion of committed money that is spent. (here) (here)
- Azerbaijan accession. WTO members reviewed the state of play in the market access negotiations, foreign trade regime and legislative reforms to advance Azerbaijan’s accession to the WTO. According to Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator of Azerbaijan, the goal was to diversify and modernize the economy to reduce its dependence on the oil and gas sector. (here)
- Afghanistan accession. At the third meeting of the Afghanistan accession working party, WTO members expressed their willingness to make this accession a priority in 2013. Members closely examined Afghanistan’s economic and foreign trade policies and requested clarifications from on state ownership and state trading enterprises, trading rights, business licenses and fees, trade-related investment measures, and intellectual property rights. (here)