In Brief

EU MINISTERS VOTE TO ALLOW NATIONAL GM BANS

EU Environmental Ministers on 24 June voted to allow Austria, France, Germany, Greece and Luxembourg to maintain eight national bans on varieties of genetically modified (GM) maize and rapeseed. The bans, which have been challenged at the WTO by the US, Canada and Argentina (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 5 June 2005) and have been described as lacking "scientific basis" by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), were the subject of a European Commission proposal -- likely motivated by the WTO challenge -- that would have ordered the countries to lift the bans within 20 days. Instead, the Council of Ministers decided by qualified majority to reject the Commission's proposal, with the five countries, along with the UK and Spain, all voting to allow the bans to continue. "The European Commission asked for more guidance from the member states and they got it," Friends of the Earth Europe Campaigner Adrian Bebb said. "Countries today have demanded the sovereign right to ban genetically modified crops if there are questions over their safety." Ministers failed to agree on whether or not to authorise GM maize variety MON 863, made by Monsanto, and as with previous GM maize varieties the matter will now move to the Commission for decision.

"EU ministers rebuff plans to overturn GMO bans," REUTERS, 24 June 2005; "EU MINISTERS VOTE TO KEEP GM FOOD BANS," FOEE NEWS RELEASE, 24 June 2005; " UK backs end to bans on GM crops," BBC NEWS, 24 June 2005; " EU govts ready to slap down order to lift GMO bans," FINANCIAL EXPRESS, 24 June 2005.

LEAKED G8 DRAFT ON ILLEGAL LOGGING 'WEAK'

G8 leaders at their upcoming meeting will only agree to voluntary measures "with each country acting where it can contribute most effectively" to end illegal logging, according to a draft leaked on 16 June. The draft communique for the 6-8 July summit stresses that logging countries have to bear their own share of responsibility for ending the illegal logging trade. It also contains a three-paragraph statement endorsing the findings of a March meeting of G8 environment and development ministers that agreed to non-binding measures to halt the illegal timber trade and encourage sustainable public procurement rules (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 5 April 2005). The UK, which holds the G8 presidency, has with the support of Japan urged the G8 to take binding, concerted and obligatory action, including new international laws, to end the US$15 billion illegal business. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is reportedly planning to present a set of proposals, including requiring G-8 member governments to buy only legally logged trees and establishing an international system for tracing illegal loggers, at the July meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland.

"Draft G8 Communique Takes Only Mild Stance on Illegal Logging," REUTERS, 16 June 2005; "PM to bring up illegal logging at G-8 summit," Yomiuri Shimbun, 15 June 2005.

WTO NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN ON NON-TARIFF BARRIERS

After many months of discussions on how to categorise non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade, a week of talks at the WTO Negotiating Group on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) concluded on 10 June with an agreement to begin actual negotiations. NTBs can consist of national regulatory measures, including for social and environmental purposes, which impede international trade but are not necessarily currently illegal under WTO rules. Under paragraph 16 of the Doha mandate, Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations aim to reduce both tariffs and 'non-tariff barriers' (NTBs) facing non-agricultural goods. According to NAMA Negotiating Group Chair Stefan Johannesson of Iceland, the week of negotiations saw "major success" on NTBs. Sources suggested that a narrowed list of specific NTBs had been compiled after lengthy talks in which only NTBs that could be described by the Members who raised them as an issue were included. Preliminary categorisation has begun to separate NTB problems that can be resolved in the NAMA negotiations from those that can be resolved through bilateral discussions or that are, in fact, legitimate domestic regulations that should not be challenged on a multilateral or bilateral level. It remains to be seen which NTBs will be dealt with sectorally -- for example, with all NTBs relating to trade in chemicals being addressed at the same time -- and which will be dealt with using a horizontal approach, for example on a category of regulations such as export taxes, on which the EC made a presentation.

As the negotiations continue, Members including the US, New Zealand and Korea have been meeting informally in sectoral meetings on areas such as forest products (to harmonise building code requirements), electronics and automobiles to discuss the NTBs they face and how they can be addressed. According to a May update to an 18 April report from environmental group Friends of the Earth International, the NTB notifications include over 200 "challenges" to national environmental and health standards by labeling them as NTBs to be potentially eliminated as a result of negotiations (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 5 April 2005).

FOEI's revised analysis can be accessed at http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/ntbsanalysis.pdf

ICTSD Reporting; "Chairman Cites Progress in NAMA Talks: Growing Support for 'Simple' Swiss Formula," WTO REPORTER, 13 June 2005.

UNICPOLOS-6 ECHOES WTO TALKS ON FISHERIES SUBSIDIES

The final text adopted on 10 June by the sixth meeting of the open-ended informal consultative process on oceans and the law of the sea (UNICPOLOS-6) echoed concerns expressed earlier by WTO Members in the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules with regards to environmentally harmful fisheries subsidies. The group, which convened in New York City starting on 6 June, gathered more than 400 delegates from governments, intergovernmental organisations, nongovernmental organisations and academia to discuss issues related to fisheries and their contribution to sustainable development in order to advise the General Assembly on matters related to the sustainable development of oceans. The final text suggests that the General Assembly encourage States to eliminate capacity-enhancing subsidies as well as subsidies that contribute to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. It also stresses that WTO negotiations to clarify and improve the subsidies disciplines on fisheries should take the development dimension of the sector into account (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 10 June 2005). The final text also invites countries to abolish barriers to trade on fish products that are inconsistent with WTO rules. As the time ran out the night of 10 June, UNICPOLOS was unable to provide a negotiated outcome on marine debris pollution nor on intergovernmental and interagency cooperation and coordination on ocean issues.

Additional Resources
UNICPOLOS-6 Documents can be found at http://www.un.org/Depts/los/consultative_process/consultative_process.htm

For daily coverage of UNICPOLOS-6, see IISD Linkages: http://www.iisd.ca/oceans/icp6/

ENB Summary, Vol. 25 No. 18, 13 June 2005; "Initial impressions of UNICPOLOS outcome," THE DEEP SEA CONSERVATION COALITION, 11 June 2005; "Presentation at the UNICPOLOS Panel," ICSF, 8 June 2005

  EC PROPOSES MAJOR CUTS IN SUGAR PRICES: SUGAR FIRMS, ACP CONCERNED

On 22 June, the European Commission announced much anticipated reform proposals to its sugar protection regime (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 3 December 2004). The Commission proposal comes in the wake of a successful challenge to the European sugar subsidies at the WTO by Australia, Brazil and Thailand (see Bridges Weekly, 4 May 2005). The proposals include a 39 percent cut in the guaranteed price of white sugar; compensation to EU farmers for 60 percent of the price cut which would be linked to environmental and land management standards; and an assistance plan to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries who have traditionally enjoyed preferential market access to the EU sugar market under a special arrangement with the EU. The proposed cuts have come up against strong criticism from sugar firms in Europe and key ACP sugar producing countries, who will see the prices they get for their sugar dramatically decrease. ACP countries have called for more time and compensation in order to adjust to this change through, among other things, diversification plans away from sugar and towards other uses of the staple crop. For example, Jamaica has plans to use sugar to make alternative, environmentally-friendly fuels such as ethanol and bagasse-based electricity generation plants. On the other hand, Brazil, the world's biggest producer of sugar, has welcomed the proposals. The Commission hopes for political agreement on the much-anticipated proposals at its Agriculture Council in November 2005.

Details of the EC proposal are available on the EU website: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/776&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

ICTSD reporting; "Caribbean shocked as EU plans to end sugar regime," Financial Times, 23 June 2005; "Sugar firms sour on subsidy cut", BBC News, Thursday 23 June 2005; "EU sugar reform splits exporters" BBC News, 22 June 2005; "A requiem for preferential sugar," The Jamaica Observer, 21 June 2005.

FOOD FROM CLONED ANIMALS ON THE WAY TO US SUPERMARKETS?

A study assessing the safety of meat and milk products from cloned farm animals for human food consumption, undertaken by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), could soon lead to a lifting of the US moratorium on the commercial use of such products. During the annual conference of the Biotechnology Industry Organization BIO 2005, held in Philadelphia from the 19 to 22 June, FDA officials said that a four-year-long risk assessment they had undertaken showed that cloned animals and their offspring were as safe for human consumption as conventional animals. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) at its recent General Session decided to undertake further investigations on the need for standards on the use of cloned animals (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 10 June 2005). Based on data provided by private companies involved in livestock cloning in the US, the FDA study has not yet been published, but will be finalised in the near future. Cloned animals are likely to be used in the short-term for breeding and expanding the gene pool in the livestock industry rather than directly for food production, but representatives from the livestock industry indicated that meat and milk from cloned animals or their offspring could be on sale as early as 2006 if the moratorium was lifted. In a statement made by the FDA on 22 June, Norris Alderson, FDA Associate Commissioner for Science, confirms the work on the study but states that it would be "premature to discuss our findings or to make any final determinations due to the complexity of the issue".

The FDA statement is available at http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2005/NEW01188.html

ICTSD reporting; "US poised to rule that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe for humans," FT, 23 June 2005.

FOREST LAW ENFORCEMENT, ILLEGAL LOGGING DISCUSSED AT ITTC

At the thirty-eighth session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on 19-22 June, the governing body of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) decided to continue the organisation's efforts to assist countries to develop and enforce forest laws. In addition to decisions to fund a number of projects on issues such as the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism and conserving forest genetic resources, the meeting also considered initiatives to improve enforcement of forest laws and stop illegal logging and trade in illegal timber. Participants, which included the 59 producer and consumer country members of the ITTO, examined reports from Gabon and Liberia on the topic, and also received a progress report on a joint ITTO-FAO initiative that is developing a code of best practices for improving law compliance in the forest sector. At a related side-event, participants focused on the relationship between secure land tenure for indigenous and local communities and the task of reducing illegal logging. ITTO Executive Director Dr. Manoel Sobral noted the increasing commitment to combat illegal logging in countries around the world, and affirmed that such "bold steps", both on the part of producer countries and developed countries looking to assist with such steps, will be necessary to achieve tangible results in the future.

"ITTO reinforces commitment to forest law enforcement and combating illegal logging," ITTO PRESS RELEASE, 21 June 2005; "ITTO grants US$7.6 million for tropical forests," ITTO PRESS RELEASE, 21 June 2005.