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Promoting South-South Civil Society Cooperation

Issue No.9, 2005
A quarterly E-Newsletter
Published by CUTS-Africa Resource Centre, Lusaka, Zambia

CONTENTS


EDITOR’S NOTE

Hong Kong –Which Way Forward For the Least Developed Countries?

The linkages between agriculture and other negotiating areas appear to be posing a serious barrier to talks. Several developing country delegations insist that they must see some of their demands met in the agriculture negotiations before they can make concessions on non-agriculture market access (NAMA). Countries seeking to shield their agriculture sectors from liberalisation, however, want to make subsidy and tariff reform conditional upon improved market access for their exports of services and industrial goods. Several negotiations from developing and developed countries are emphatic that a preliminary agreement on agriculture is central to moving the talks forward. Unless members can agree on agriculture, it is not clear what we would be working towards in Hong Kong.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial scheduled for December 2005 will be held in Hong Kong where a lot of issues are to be tabled such as market access for least developed countries’ (LDCs) goods to developed countries, special and differential treatment (S&DT), trade facilitation etc. Responding to the demands that the European Union (EU) reduce subsides and open its markets to foreign farm products, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the “EU should not make concessions without being paid back in return.” Nonetheless, this seems to be a minority view.

Editor


ACTIVITY REPORT

Linkages between Trade, Development and Poverty Reduction
On August 30, 2005, Consumer Unity & Trust Society-Africa Resource Centre (CUTS-ARC) and the Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT) organised a launch meeting on the project entitled ‘Linkages between Trade, Development and Poverty Reduction.’ CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS-CITEE), Jaipur, India, is implementing this project on issues of linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction over a period of four years.

More on: http://www.cuts-citee.org/tdp.htm    

Investment Policy Review of Zambia
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in conjunction with the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry and CUTS-ARC organised an event on August 22, 2005 at Lusaka to discuss the findings of the Investment Policy Review (IPR) of Zambia. UNCTAD is a focal point within the United Nations Secretariat for all matters related to foreign direct investment (FDI).  

More on: http://www.cuts-international.org/cutsinmedia2005.htm#scr23aug05

Pre-Hong Kong LDC Civil Society Consultative Forum
CUTS Africa Resource Centre (CUTS-ARC) in collaboration with Civil Society Trade Network of Zambia, and Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT), Zambia organised a three-day workshop entitled: ‘Pre-Hong Kong LDC Civil Society Consultative Forum,’ in Livingstone, Zambia, on June 23-25, 2005. The objective of the Forum was to analyse the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) of the WTO and the key trade and development issues of least developed countries (LDCs) and to provide inputs to the LDC meeting as well as the 6th WTO Ministerial to be held in Hong Kong, in December 2005. It suggested that the 6th WTO Ministerial meeting should adopt pro-poor trade policies that are guided by global commitments to sustainable human development and poverty eradication.

More on: http://www.cuts-international.org/eventsreport2005.htm#hk23jun05

Zambia NEPAD National Action Plan (ZNAP)
CUTS-ARC hosted a consultative meeting on ZNAP, on July 29, 2005 at Lusaka to facilitate the drafting of a paper and comments to the ZNAP. The other objectives were to provide formal inputs to the ZNAP document and to assess the recommendations of the two NEPAD meetings held earlier.

More on: http://www.cuts-international.org/cuts-arc.htm#nepad

Information-based Advocacy, Networking and Capacity Building on NEPAD
On June 8-9, 2005, CUTS-ARC, with support of Canadian International Development agency (CIDA) organised a workshop on the launch of the information-based advocacy, networking and capacity building project on NEPAD in Zambia. The workshop carried forward activities and action points identified at the national sensitisation workshop held in Livingstone, Zambia on September 10-11, 2004, with a view to identify sector priorities for Zambia under NEPAD.

More on: http://www.cuts-international.org/news-cuts2005.htm#zambia9jun05


NEWS BRIEFS

Trees produce diesel

The Agro Forest Bio Energy has initiated a plan to establish an oil tree industry in South Africa. Four varieties of trees, which survive in arid regions by storing energy in the form of oil in their seeds, have been identified. The oil extracted from the seeds of a hectare of trees can produce 1560 liters of bio-diesel a year. If large scale planting of trees is done correctly, farmers could earn hard cash under the carbon-credit scheme of the Kyoto Protocol.

(EN, 29/08/05)

EPA trade forum in Nairobi

The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) trade forum held a meeting attended by negotiators from 16 East and South Africa (ESA) countries. The major focus was on Agriculture and market access. This forum is in preparation for the negotiations with the European Union, which are due to commence in October.

(ES, 22/08/05)

Are patents really conducive for economic growth in developing countries?

The exploitation or bio-prospecting in South Africa has already caused some waves in the country with the perception that local indigenous knowledge was exploited for tremendous financial gain which mostly does not come back to the community. Jonathan Berger, the head of law and treatment Access Unit, states that patent laws destroy innovation in the developing world. He further consolidated his contention by citing developing economies such as Korea and Taiwan which took advantage of weak patent laws to develop strong industries thereby stimulating growth.

(BD, 02/08/05)

EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Civil Society /Stakeholder Position Society Paper

CUTS-ARC in collaboration with Service Centre for Development Cooperation (KEPA) Zambia will organise a workshop in Lusaka, Zambia to be by the end of October to come up with a plan of action prior to the December Hong Kong Ministerial. 

Training Workshop for Journalists

CUTS-ARC and KEPA will organise this workshop in Lusaka in which 15 journalists would be selected for training in international trade issues with a view to enhance capacity building in media on trade issues.

PUBLICATIONS

Newsletter

Tradequity

The current issue of ‘Tradequity’ throws light on Africa’s Debt, Aid and Trade. Africa spends three times more than its scarce resources on repaying debt than it does on providing basic services. Therefore, more and more voices are acknowledging that the current debt relief framework – the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative has failed to resolve this crisis. Africa’s share of world trade stands at less than two percent and is diminishing, and without it, there will be no growth and eventually will fail to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Policy Brief

Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations: Cotonou Undermined
The trade arm of the Cotonou Agreement (CA), the Economic Partnership Agreements’ (EPAs) negotiations have so far paid limited attention to the fundamental values and objectives originally set out in the CA, and are, therefore set to threaten and undermine its vision. The EU has so far rejected a wide range of proposals by ACP negotiators without a suggestion of compromise, threatening the vision of Cotonou as an Agreement based on equality of partnership.

For more details contact:
lusaka@cuts.org or www.cuts-international.org

Contact Us:

Africa Resource Centre
Suite 4.11, Main Post Office Building,
Cairo Road, P.O. Box 37113, Lusaka, Zambia
Ph: (00) 260-1-224992
Email: cutsarc@zamnet.zm
lusaka@cuts.org

About CUTS-ARC Sounds

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