TRADE: EU Urged to Halt Regional Agreements

As European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson prepares to kick off a new phase of trade negotiations in the Caribbean this week, trade groups are asking the bloc to shelve regional agreements in order to avoid a "development disaster".

/CORRECTION*/TRADE: Poor Countries Take Sugar to UN

New threats to sugar exports to the EU from poor countries are due to come up at the United Nations summit this week.

TRADE: Poor Countries Take Sugar to UN

New threats to sugar exports to the EU from poor countries are due to come up at the United Nations summit this week..

DEVELOPMENT: A New Challenge to Globalisation

A new alliance to challenge the effects of globalisation took shape at an international forum in Milan this weekend.

ECONOMY-SOUTH AFRICA: In Search of Afro-Gucci

The names alone are evocative - Stoned Cherrie, Black Coffee, Sun Goddess - and the clothes they're stitched into even more so.

TRADE: G20 Negotiating Capacity Could Bring Surprises in Hong Kong

Although the negotiations ahead of the sixth WTO ministerial conference point to failure, past experience shows that surprises cannot be ruled out, says Gilman Rodrigues, a leading representative of Brazil's agricultural producers.

CARIBBEAN: Trade Winds Gusting as Region Faces WTO Meet

Recent developments in international trade highlight the difficulties facing the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) as it prepares for a key World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong this December.

TRADE: Vietnam Set to Join WTO but Shoe-Dumping Case Pinches

Vietnam aspires to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year but finds two consecutive anti-dumping cases lodged by European manufacturers not too encouraging.

TRADE-CARIBBEAN: WTO Ruling Adds to Economic Woes

Caribbean states are deeply unhappy with Monday's World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling that a new European Union tariff on imported bananas is illegal, seeing it as yet another blow to an industry that has long been a key element of the Caribbean's economy.

TRADE: EU Loses First Round of Banana Battle

Latin American banana-producing countries welcomed the World Trade Organisation's decision Monday that the European Union's proposed tariffs on imported bananas is illegal.

TRADE: A Bitter Pill for the WTO and Activists to Swallow

WTO authorities played down the significance of the new stalemate in the Doha Round of talks and the threat hanging over the sixth ministerial conference in Hong Kong. But civil society organisations see the multilateral trade system's latest fiasco in a much more serious light.

TRADE: Toning Down Frustration Over Latest WTO Failure in Talks

This week's failure by the WTO to reach a key agreement to keep trade liberalisation talks on schedule did not have the same impact as the fiascos in Seattle (1999) and Cancún (2003) because the prestige of ministerial conferences is not at stake as it was back then, and because clear efforts have been made to tone down the reactions.

TRADE: CAFTA Could Kick Start Stalled WTO Talks

The approval of the Central American Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by the U.S. House of Representatives early Thursday could breathe new life into the Doha Round of WTO negotiations, say some observers.

TRADE: Business Threatens Development at Talks

Anti-poverty campaigners are demanding that the European Union halt its "aggressive attempts" to open up developing country markets for the benefit of European big business during World Trade Organisation talks in Geneva this week.

VIETNAM: Power Cuts Prompt Privatisation but Tariffs Are Worrisome

Asked to explain in the National Assembly recent severe power shortages, Minister for Industry Hoang Trung Hai lamely talked about ''unpredictable weather developments'', ''unseen surge demand'' and ''belatedness of some power projects''.

G8 SUMMIT: Behind This New Interest in Africa

Powerful western nations are committed to developing Africa but more as a market for their goods, a leading agricultural economist says.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Set for Showdown on Sugar

The European Union will face a showdown Wednesday over its controversial sugar regime when the European Commission presents its vision for the future of sugar production inside and outside the bloc.

DEVELOPMENT: No End to Subsidies in Sight

Most countries in Europe and North America do not foresee an end to the billions of dollars they pay out in subsidies to their farmers, a leading expert says.

TRADE: Oxfam Accuses Wealthy Nations of Cheating

The industrialised world is acting with "duplicity" in the WTO Doha Round trade negotiations, which threatens to turn the whole round of development talks into a farce, according to the international humanitarian organisation Oxfam.

TRADE: African Leaders Complain of Red Tape in Deal With U.S.

Five African presidents have criticised the economic criteria they must meet before their nations can qualify for a preferential trade deal that gives Africa greater access to the U.S. market.

TRADE: European Group Backs Chinese Textiles

As European Union commissioner for trade Peter Mandelson started talks in China Friday to defuse a growing row over textiles, some European textiles companies are accusing the bloc of protectionism.