BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest

Lead Stories
HOPES FADE FOR DOHA MODALITIES MINI-MINISTERIAL IN MAY	WTO Members "have only a few weeks, not months" in which to conclude framework agreements on agriculture and industrial goods trade if they are to have any hope of concluding the Doha Round this year, the head of the global trade body said this week.
WHO COMMITTEE MAKES PROGRESS, BUT FALLS SHORT OF AGREEMENT ON HEALTH INNOVATION	Government negotiators in a World Health Organization committee last week fell short of finalising a potential plan to encourage pharmaceutical innovation that better responds to the needs of people in poor countries. Although they agreed on much of the content of a draft global strategy, they had to leave some of the most contentious issues on the links between intellectual property and innovation unresolved.
SERVICES COMMITTEE LOOKS AT SIGNALLING CONFERENCE, LDC MODALITIES	The Doha Round services negotiations received increased attention this week, with the arrival in Geneva of senior officials from a number of trading nations to discuss how governments might go about assuring each other about future market-opening under a potential WTO accord.

In Brief	WTO in Brief
	Slow Progress on Agriculture

Events        &        Resources
Events	12 May, Bogor, Indonesia. FOOD, FUEL AND FORESTS: A SEMINAR ON CLIMATE CHANGE, AGRICULTURE AND TRADE. Organised by the International Food and Agriculture Trade Policy Council. The scale of carbon emissions from deforestation has been estimated to be greater than that of the fossil fuel intensive global transport sector, and discussions continue about how the international community can best reverse alarming trends of deforestation. Global food demand, however, is expected to double by the year 2050 due to population and income growth. Agricultural producers will benefit from this increased demand, but agricultural expansion will likely become an even greater contributor to deforestation. Climate change concerns have also led many countries to incorporate a significant percentage of biofuels in their transport fuel. Questions are being raised about just how much certain bio-fuels contribute to greenhouse gas reductions, in particular when their production may cause deforestation. This seminar will examine these food-fuel-forest linkages and consider how best to promote income and food security and mitigate climate change. For more information, please see http://www.agritrade.org/events/InternationalFoodAgriculturalTradePolicyCouncilEvents.html.
Resources	RISING FOOD PRICES WHAT SHOULD BE DONE? By Joachim von Braun. International Food Policy Research Institute Policy Brief, April 2008. The sharp increase in food prices over the past couple of years has raised serious concerns about the food and nutrition situation of poor people in developing countries, about inflation, and -- in some countries -- about civil unrest. World agriculture is facing new challenges that, along with existing forces, pose risks for poor people's livelihoods and food security. The paper calls for policy action to meet the short- and medium-term needs of the poor; to encourage investment in agriculture to address the long-term problem of boosting supply; and reforms to trade-distorting biofuel policies. Available online at http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/bp/bp001.asp.
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