CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment
CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics
& Environment (CITEE)
| Representation |
In the early 1990s, when the negotiations for the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) were at their peak, CUTS got involved in the issues of international trade and economics. During the 13th World Congress of the London-based International Organisation of Consumer Unions (IOCU, renamed as Consumers International in 1995), held at Hong Kong in July 1991, CUTS discovered that hardly any consumer group in India or very few in the South are pursuing this crucial area of work which will have an impact on every consumer. Since then, CUTS has engaged itself in work on trade and development, which is briefly spelt out below under Milestones.
After gaining much experience, CUTS launched the CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment in 1996. Its aim is to become a global standard institution for research and advocacy on trade issues affecting countries in the South. In order to realise this aim, it has formulated its own vision statement, (PDF format) which covers time period up to year 2005. To guide its work programme it has an international advisory board chaired by the eminent trade theorist, Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati. The board also includes other experts with very diverse views, which help us with taking a more middle and a pragmatic path.
Pursuing economic equity and social justice within and across borders by persuading governments and empowering people.
Enable, empower and facilitate representatives of the civil society, from developing countries in particular, to analyse, articulate and advocate on emerging and relevant issues in the international trading and economic system at the appropriate fora.
Create an informed society through empowerment of people and civil society representatives thus enhancing transparency and accountability in the international trading and economic system.
Promote equity between and among the developed and developing countries through well-argued research and advocacy on issues of international trading an economic system.
Conducting research and advocacy on issues of international trade, sustainable development and comparative domestic policies.
Training and networking with international agencies, NGOs and media.
Creating dynamic upward and downward linkages between people and policy makers.
Implement the above under the guidance of an international advisory board of experts.
1991
Consumers Network on Trade launched at Hong Kong in association with Public Citizen, USA; Vebraucher Initiative, Bonn; and Parents for Safe Food, London
1994
Joined the Global Policy and Campaigns Committee on Economic Issues of the Consumers International, London as the member from Asia-Pacific region
Catalysed the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE), Kathmandu in association with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi; Pro-Public, Kathmandu; Law & Society Trust, Colombo; SDPI, Islamabad; Associates for Development Initiatives, Dhaka
1996
Founded the International Centre of Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) at Geneva alongwith the IUCN, Gland, Switzerland; Swiss Coalition of Development Organisations, Bern, Switzerland; Fundacion Futuro Latin Americo, Quito, Equador; and International Institute for Sustainable Development, Ottawa, Canada
Launched CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CITEE) at Calcutta, now shifted to Jaipur
2001
Established the Africa Resource Centre of CITEE, Lusaka, Zambia, to consolidate and expand South-South civil society cooperation activities
Trade and Sustainable Development
CUTS is involved in the area of trade and sustainable development in various ways and at various levels: international, sub-continental, national and state. The activites are focused mainly the WTO and related domestic policies. What follows is a brief description of the work being done at the international and sub-continental levels. At the national level the work mainly involves regular interaction with the Ministries of Commerce, Industries, Textiles, and Consumer Affairs, and networking with consumer and other NGOs.
In 1995, the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India commissioned, CUTS to undertake a study on the impact of environmental conditions in developed countries on India's exports in the area of textiles and garments including carpets, leather and leather goods, agricultural and food products including tea and packaging. The study was done through extensive literature survey and in-depth interviews. It was presented to the Ministry in July, 1995.
In 1996, the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, commissioned the Centre to analyse the progress of negotiations in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in the context of the past debates on liberalisation and regulation of investments. The study was done through extensive literature survey and intensive interviews with officials of several OECD governments (USA, UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland). In-depth consultations were also held with inter-governmental organisations like the European Commission, Brussels, OECD, Paris, World Trade Organisation and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, the World Bank, Washington DC, and experts and academics who have been involved with the issues for a long time. The study was revised in August 1997, and presented to the Ministry.
In 1999, the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, commissioned the Centre to provide negotiating inputs vis-a-vis possible multilateral framework for investment in the World Trade Organisation. The study aimed to provide pragmatic inputs for helping Indian negotiators strategise their negotiating agenda in a flexible manner on a possible multilateral framework on investment in the WTO, and to help Indian negotiators formulate a strategy that could be termed as a southern agenda on investment issues. The study was submitted to the Ministry in July, 1999.
In 1999, the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, commissioned the Cenre to analyse the compatibility or otherwise of subsidies on cotton and cotton products in the US and European Commission with concerned WTO instruments. The study was done through extensive literature survey and intensive interviews with concerned experts from the business, academia, inter-governmental organisations, the US Department of Agriculture, and was presented to the Ministry in November, 1999.
In February, 1999, a CUTS-led consortium was awarded a project titled, "Field Styudy Research in South Asia: Conditions Necessary for the Liberalisation of Trade and Investment to Reduce Poverty" by the Department for International Development, Government of the UK. The focus of the research was India but it also included issues relevant for Bangladesh and Pakistan. The consortium included Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai, India; the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka, Bangladesh; and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan. To guide the research team an India National Reference Group (NRG) was constituted. The members of the NRG hailed from various ministries, research institutions, media persons, and social sector organisations. The findings of the study were presented in two meetings organised by the Institute for Development Studies, Sussex, UK and the World Bank, Washington DC, USA in Sussex, UK and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, respectively. The study would feed into the World Bank's World Development Report, 2000-01 that would be focusing on the linkages of trade, technology and poverty. The research has been published in a report titled, "Liberalisation and Poverty: Is there a virtuous circle?"
At the state level, we are proposing a programme to the Rajasthan state for designing compatibility with WTO provisions, and looking at what advantages can be derived out of it, and also to cope with the disadvantages that may arise.The project will be replicable in other states as well.
Fostering Equity & Accountability in the Trading System (FEATS)
A comprehensive, dynamic and continuing Work Programme at the international level for supporting our capacity building work in the area of trade and sustainable development. It is envisioned by the CUTS staff and board members that CITEE must achieve the status of a global level institution by the year 2000. Currently the programme receives core support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Germany and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, USA and project support from various sources such as Christian Aid, Oxfam, UNDP, UNCTAD as well as research grants from the Government of India's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Textiles, and the Department for International Development, UK.
Progressive Regional Organisation, Action & Co-operation on Trade (PROACT)
This is the 3-year Work Programme of the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE) being supported by HIVOS, the Netherlands and run out of Jaipur and Kathmandu, Nepal. It is involved in capacity building in the South Asian subcontinent.
SOUTH ASIAN CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE ISSUES (SACSNITI)
This is a 3-year Work Programme of the Centre at the South Asian level, and the International Development Research Centre, Canada has agreed to support this in principle. It's general objectives are to:
undertake comprehensive analysis of trade policy issues of interest to individual countries as well as for the South Asian region;
develop a facility that would provide a rapid regional response to important emerging issues on multilateral trading platform; and
crate an information database on trade policy issues vis-a-vis WTo Members of the South Asian region.
CUTS’ Initiative for Capacity Building onLinkages between Trade and Non-Trade Concerns
CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment has undertaken a programme of analysing and understanding various facets and positions on linkages, be they between trade and labour standards, trade and environment, trade and poverty etc.
This programme has the potential of:
resolving the conflicts arising out of the contentious discussions of incorporating labour standards or environmental standards into the multilateral trading system i.e. a sanction-based platform viz. the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and
strengthening the existing non-sanction based institutions at both the national and international levels for effectively tackling the multifarious dimensions associated with these issues, and thus arriving at sustainable development situation.
Barriers and Opportunities for Promoting Trade in Environmentally Friendly Products
1. IWOGDA-II (International Working Group on Doha Agenda)
2. SACSNITI
“Rethinking
Investment for Development”
The Third National Reference Group Meeting - The Investment for Development
project
The third National Reference Group (NRG) meeting was held under the Investment
for Development project (IFD) in collaboration with National Council
of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi.
The meeting was held as part of the Partnership Conclave held on 12-14 March 2003 at the same venue to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of CUTS.
The aim of the seminar was to discuss the draft National Policy Advocacy Report of India (“India Report C”) with project stakeholders. Report C contains policy recommendations to the governments and civil society. The stakeholders of the project are non-government organizations (NGOs) including consumer organizations, academia, media and governments. The participants’ comments and suggestions on Report C will be incorporated to finalize the report.
For more write to: ifd_cuts@rediffmail.com, cuts@cuts.org
LAUNCH OF INCSOC (International Network of Civil Society on Competition), 20th February 2003, Geneva
The International Network of Civil Society Organisations on Competition (INCSOC) has been floated by several civil society organisations as a coalition to promote a healthy competition culture around the world.
The idea came out of the extensive work on competition policy issues by Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), which floated the idea as a result of a path-breaking project on comparative study of competition regimes in developing countries (popularly called the 7Up Project). It revealed a crying need for building a network of stakeholders of competition policy and law especially civil society so that the competition regimes at the national level could be strengthened, and developed where absent. As businesses and their anti-competitive practices have become global in nature, the need for consumer-oriented competition advocacy at the global level cannot be understated.
To guide and coordinate the activities of the network, the first Steering Committee has been formed. Allan Asher, Consumers’ Association, UK has consented to be the Chairperson of the Steering Committee.
The Network was formally launched on 19th February 2003 in Geneva at the Final Meeting of the 7-Up Project. On 20th February 2003, the first general body meeting of the network was held. The meeting was attended by the Steering Committee and other members of the network.
For more information on INCSOC, please visit www.incsoc.net Press Release
3. Symposium on Competition Policy and Pro-poor Development, 19 February 03, WMO, 7 bis, Avenue de la Paix, Geneva
Main Objectives Press Release
Evaluate the existing competition law and its implementation on a few basic principles:
7Up Project
The
7-Up Project is a two- year research and advocacy programme conducted
by the Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) with the support of Department
for International Development (DFID), UK for a comparative study of competition
regimes of seven developing countries in the Commonwealth.
The countries selected for the Project are India, Kenya, Pakistan, South
Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Zambia.
(For further information please visit: www.cuts-international.org/7-up
project.htm)
Final Meeting of IWOGDA, 17th - 18th Feb. 03, Geneva Press Release
Mid Term Review Meeting of EINTAD, 20-21st December 2002, Jaipur
LINKAGES: HOW DO WE BRIDGE THE GAP? December 10, 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE) organised a dialogue on Linkages: How do we Bridge the Gap? on Tuesday, 10 December 2002. The meeting started at 0900 hrs and the venue was WestIndisch Huis, Amsterdam.
The purpose was to conduct a dialogue between protagonists and antagonists on the contentious on issues of labour and environmental standards in trade agreements.
For
more information, please contact
Mr. Bipul Chatterjee/Ms. Purnima Purohit
Email: cuts@cuts.org
ASIA PACIFIC SEMINARS ON INVESTMENT AND COMPETITION
24-26 NOVEMBER 2002, NEW DELHI, INDIA: ASIA PACIFIC SEMINARS ON INVESTMENT AND COMPETITION organised by CUTS Centre for Trade Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE), Jaipur, India. The schedule of event of the seminars was as follows:
24-25 Nov, One-and-half-day Regional Seminar on Investment under the project “Investment for Development”, was conducted by CUTS-CITEE. The objectives of the seminar were to share research findings of the project with the civil society and disseminate information on the various issues relating to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI);
25 Nov, Half-day Project Interim Meeting of the project “Investment for Development”. The meeting provided an opportunity for project partners to take stock of achievements in the project so far and to plan ahead;
26 Nov, two parallel one-day events:
a) Regional Seminar on Competition Issues. The competition seminar focused on competition regimes of a few select countries in the Asia Pacific region. The meeting dealt with regional, international and multilateral approaches. and
b) Research Seminar on Foreign Direct Investment and Development – The Policy Dimension. Researchers from the region shared their work in the area of investment in their domain and will deliberate on 2003 UNCTAD World Investment Report.
Brainstorming Meeting on Special & Differential Treatment, 8-9th Nov. 02
Africa
Regional Seminar 18-19 October 2002, Nairobi, Kenya
The First Regional Seminar under the ‘Investment for Development’
(IFD) project was organised by Consumer Unity & Trust Society-Centre
for Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE) in collaboration
with Eco News Africa (ENA) and UNCTAD in Nairobi, Kenya on 18-19 October
2002. It was a one and a half day event
Participants in the seminar discussed economic and political issues relating to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), in order to better understand national, regional and international rule-making in this area. Project researchers from South Africa Tanzania and Zambia presented their findings. The venue was Kenya School of Monetary Studies, Nairobi. Agenda Event Report
For further information contact: Ms. Sanchita Chatterjee or Ms. Ruchi Sharma at ifd_cuts@rediffmail.com or cuts@cuts.org
Competition Challenges in a Globalising Economy: Issues before India,
4th October 2002, New Delhi, India
CUTS-Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment
is organising the subject mentioned meeting in collaboration with
National Council of Applied Economic Research at New Delhi on 4th
October 2002. The purpose of this half-day seminar would be to discuss
upcoming issues related to domestic and international competition
concerns from the perspective of developing countries, particularly
India. It will also launch the Phase-I country report of India prepared
under the 7-Up
Project. It analyses the competition policy in the broader context
of the changing economic policy regime in India. It also deals with
the institutional framework for enforcing competition law in the country.
The Seminar would involve the participation of different stakeholders
– consumer organisations, competition and regulatory authorities,
academia and media. Press
Release Event
Report
For more information please write to Ms.Anjali Bansal at cuts@cuts.org
Panel
Discussion: Post Doha Scenario: The State of Play
CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment organised
a Panel Discussion titled Post-Doha Scenario:
The State of Play. Invited panelists were:
Jairam
Ramesh, Economist
Muchkund Dubey, Former Foreign Secretary of India
T. K. Bhaumik, Senior Policy Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industries
Jagdish Shettigar, Member, Prime Minister of India’s Economic Advisory
Council
Sanjaya Baru, Editor, The Financial Express
This was preceded by the release of a book titled “WTO and India: An Agenda for Action in the Post-Doha Scenario” written by Pradeep Mehta, and foreword by Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia University, New York, USA.
Panel
Discussion - Post Doha WTO: Current State
of Play and the Way Forward, New Delhi, 23 September 2002
Background
At the fourth ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held at Doha, Qatar in November 2001, three declarations were adopted. The first laid out the main text, the second dealt with TRIPs (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) and public health, and the third dealt with implementation issues. Where the third declaration is concerned, the main issues revolved around special and differential treatment (S&DT).
S&DT are provided in various WTO agreements as concessions for developing and least developed countries. These include longer-term commitments and flexibilities in the implementation of the particular agreement. This issue was put on the agenda at Seattle, but since the meeting collapsed for several reasons, all the complex issues were left unresolved.
Following the failure of the Seattle meeting, the WTO members decided that each of the contentious issues of the aborted Seattle Ministerial Declaration would be resolved before the next ministerial meeting. But things did not move at all, as the influential countries did not see any gain for themselves. Therefore, as a counter tactic in the hectic pre-Doha negotiations, the poor countries submitted a demand asking for a stand-alone agreement on S&DT, as it is the most important issue for them.
However that was not agreed and what ultimately transpired at Doha was an agreement to negotiate the issues and arrive at clear recommendations to be presented to the WTO General Council by 31 July 2002.
Not unexpectedly, the matter has dragged, with the US even suggesting that the issue of S&DT be studied conceptually! This has raised the hackles of the poor countries, because there was a clear agreement at Doha to negotiate the operationalisation of S&DT in each area, and not have a mere chat session.
For developing countries, who wanted to see genuine progress made at the WTO, coming up against the wall of US resistance has been extremely frustrating. “Join us”, the developing countries were told at Doha by the US and the EU, “and we will bring your concerns into the heart of the negotiations”, referring to the forthcoming negotiations as the ‘Development Round’. But since then, very little has been achieved.
In the wake of September 11 and the prospect of a much less secure world, the US and EU were able to make a concerted effort to ensure that the stalled WTO received a jumpstart. A very tight negotiating timetable and a plan for the Round to be finished in 2005 intended to push things along were initiated.
However, this timetable is already proving to be utterly unrealistic, and not because of developing countries’ actions. On the contrary, it is the US and the EU who are holding things up and their over-ambitious timetable looks set to backfire. What are the way outs of this scenario?
For more information, please contact Apurva Dayal/Purnima Purohit at cuts@cuts.org
Competition
Policy & Law in Developing Countries” – 7-Up Phase-II Review Meeting,
July 5-6, 2002, Geneva CUTS
Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE)
implemented a two-year research and advocacy programme titled “The
7-Up Project” for a comparative study of competition regimes of
seven developing countries in the Commonwealth with the support of
DFID, UK.
The project wasconsisted of two phases: The first phase dealt with
the institutional framework, while the second phase dealt with the
cross-border competition concerns.
The Phase-II review meeting of the project was organized on July 5-6,
2002 in Geneva. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Phase-I
synthesis report, deliberate upon the important cross border issues
that have emerged from the research work of second phase and plan
for the way ahead.
The venue of the meeting is Hotel Le Warwick, 14 Rue de Luusanne,
CH-1201 Geneva.
For further information contact:
Mr. R D Mathur / Ms Anjali Bansal at
cuts@cuts.org
or Fax (0)141-20 7486 Event Report
CUTS-CITEE
New Delhi Working Group Meeting,Friday, 14th June 2002
Federation House, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &
Industry, Tansen Marg
Liberalisation
and economic integration into the global economy have been viewed
by many as tools to increase both domestic and foreign investment.
India has dismantled many market barriers for gaining reciprocal access
to global markets, capital and technologies. However, there are divergent
views in India on how far these reforms have helped or hampered India
in achieving its objectives.
In the fourth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) held at Doha, Qatar in November 2001, India secured major gains
in several areas of the hard fought agenda. An analysis of the Ministerial
Declaration from the perspective of India’s basic trade interests
reveals that India bargained hard on agriculture, implementation,
TRIPs and trade & transfer of technology among other areas and
got a fair amount of success.
CUTS has been involved in the WTO process and has participated in
every ministerial meeting since Marrakesh in April, 1994. In this
context, CUTS has outlined an agenda for India to be pursued both
at international as well as domestic level. This agenda was published
in a series of articles in the leading business daily, The Financial
Express and will be published in a book form. The international agenda
talks about what India should do at the international forums, in the
best interest of its people in the context of the WTO.
But in the post-Doha scenario, equally important is the domestic agenda,
which requires Indian Government to take note of, in implementing
our commitments under the WTO as also to make the best out of it.
The Government needs to act domestically on all the issue, whether
that is of agriculture, services, environmental standards or of intellectual
properly rights.
As part of a series of New Delhi Working Group Meetings, CUTS-CITEE
organised a Panel Discussion on WTO & India: Domestic Agenda
for Action. This aimed at finding out strategies and options
to attend this huge agenda before we can reap any perceived gains
that the on-going trade negotiations can throw up.
Tentative Panel: Muchkund Dubey, former Foreign Secretary of India;
B. B. Bhattacharya, Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi;
Rohit Bansal, The Financial Express, New Delhi; Manoj Pant, Professor,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
For further information please contact
Shesnwita Roy/Purnima Purohit at cuts@cuts.org
or Fax (0)141-20 7486
Natipnal
Stakeholders Meeting on Leather Sector, 13 June 2002, New Delhi
Under the project one stakeholders meeting in each of the
country i.e. India and Malaysia would be organised. The Meeting in
India to discuss the first draft of the study on leather sector was
held on 13th June 2002 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. (Click
here for Draft
Agenda) while the one on tropical timber would be held in Malaysia
in last week of June 2002.
Based upon the results of the case studies, CUTS will prepare a synthesis
document summarising the major issues across the selected sectors
with regard to opportunities, constraints, and policy recommendations.
The first draft of Indian case study on Leather
Sector is now available for comments. Event
Report
2nd
National Seminar on Competition, Regulation & Investment: Role
in Economic Growth, 8-9 June 2002, Chennai, India
CUTS
Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE),
Jaipur, India, organised an event in collaboration with the National
Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi, India which
was the second event, in continuation to the National Seminar
http://cuts-international.org/citee-event-cominvstjan02.htm#contents
organised on 11-12th January 2002, in Jaipur.
The target audience was consisted of representatives from consumer
organisations, competition and regulatory authorities, policy makers,
industry associations, trade unions, academia and media.
This Seminar was designed on the same pattern as the earlier one.
It was comprised of three plenary sessions, where the first session
deliberated on the proposed competition law of India, particularly
in context of cross-border competition issues. The second session
of the seminar looked at competition & consumer concerns in regulatory
reforms in India. The third plenary focused on investors’ and civil
society’s perceptions on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and FDI policy
frame work in India. Press
Release Event
Report
Scoping
Workshop on WTO Issues,
21-
22 May 2002, Brussels
CUTS
Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE)
organised a Scoping Workshop on WTO Issues, Brussels, on 21st and
22nd May 2002. The workshop took place at the Hotel Dorient, Brussels,
Belgium.The purpose of this meeting was to identify research and networking
needs. Press Release
Event Report
LINKAGES:
How do we bridge the gap?
May21,
2002, Brussels, Belgium.
CUTS
Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE)
organised a dialogue on Linkages: How do we Bridge the Gap? on Tuesday,
21st May 2002. The meeting took place at the Hotel Dorient, Brussels,
Belgium.
The purpose was to conduct a dialogue between protagonists and antagonists
on the contentious issues of labour standards in trade agreements.
Press Release
Trade
& Social Development: A Southern Viewpoint
1st
May 2002 ,9.00 to 11.30AM, Geneva, Switzerland
Conference
WTO and South Asia: Lessons and Strategies
9-10
March 2002, New Delhi, India
Training
Seminar: Competitiveness of Indian Industries in the WTO Era, Focus:
Textiles and Clothing,
17-19 January 2002, Hyderabad, India More
National
Seminar on Competition, Regulation & Investment: Role in Economic
Growth
11-12th January 2002, Jaipur, India
Launch Meeting of 'Investment for Development' Project
13-14th
December 2001, Jaipur, India.
Doha
12th November, 2001
Panel
Discussion 'Standards and Market Access: The Road Ahead'
Doha,11th November 2001
Competition Policy and Consumer Interest in the Global Economy
Geneva,
12-13 October 2001More on Event
Fairplay in Global Business
A conference held at New Delhi, India during February 14-15, 1994,
and jointly organised by CUTS and the Internaional Organisation of
Consumer Unions, London, UK. It deliberated on trade and transnational
corporations, the draft United Nations Guidelines for Transnational
Investment, the International Chamber of Commerce's Guidelines for
Investment, and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development) Declaration on Multilateral Enterprises. A Declaration
was adopted at the conference.
Competition Policy in the Context of Liberalisation
An international conference held at New Delhi, India during January
20-21, 1995, and jointly organised by CUTS and the Internaional Organisation
of Consumer Unions, London, UK. Its recommendations include calling
upon the WTO (World Trade Organisation) and UNCTAD (United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development) to develop work programme on
tra de and competition and governments to involve public interest
groups in policy making.
Agenda for India at the WTO--Need to be proactive
A series of four seminars organised during May and October 1996 and
March and October 1997 in different parts of India for informing and
consensus building on India's approach to the new world trade order.
Multilateral Frameworks for Investment
An international seminar held at Geneva, Switzerland during October
18-19, 1996, and jointly organised by the Centre and Consumers International,
London, UK. The event covered issues concerning investment liberalisation
and its impact on consumer, development and environment.
International Trade Policy: Issues for Developing
Countries
An international conference held at Geneva, Switzerland during November
28-29, 1997, and jointly organised by the Centre and International
Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Geneva, Switzerland.
It deliberated on built-in agenda at the WTO as well as new issues
from the perspectives of developing and least developed countries.
Strengthening Trade and Environment Policy
Integration in India and Trade, Investment and the Environment
Two seminars were held back-to-back at Jaipur, India during January
13-15, 1998, and were organised on behalf on UNCTAD, United Nations
Development Programme, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry
of Environment and Forests, Government of India. These events deliberated
on the role of trade and investment in promoting sustainable development,
especially in developing countries.
Southern Agenda for the Next Millennium:
Role of the Civil Society
An international conference held at Bangalore during August 17-18,
1999, at the time of G-15 trade mininters meeting. A brief report
is available in PDF format.
Vexed Issues of Linkage
A panel discussion held at Seattle, USA on December 1, 1999 during
the Third Ministerial Conference of the WTO, and jointly organised
by the Centre and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,
Minneapolis, USA. A major recommendation of the discussion was to
organise a series of structured dialogues, backed up by secondary
research, on issues of trade linkages for building capacities of Northern
civil society.
National Seminar on Competition, Regulation & Investment: Role in Economic Growth
11-12th January 2001, Jaipur, India
Others Events
CUTS-CITEE Research Programme on WTO Rules
An international workshop on “Negotiating Agenda for Market Access: Cases of Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade” was organised by CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment, with the cooperation of UNCTAD and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Geneva.More
Agenda
for India at the WTO
In
the year 1996-97 CUTS CITEE organised four policy dialogues, with the
objective “To develop a better understanding on the existing and emerging
issues at the World Trade Organisation, their impact on India and evolve
a consensus on India’s approach through a structured dialogue among policy
makers, civil society representatives, trade experts and mediapersons.”
The outcome of these dialogues was a set of 42 recommendations, classified
into following six categories:
