Trade : Contemplating the unthinkable, a WTO without the US   (Chakravarthi Raghavan, Geneva) (PRIV)
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As Ministers and representatives of WTO member countries gather in Buenos Aires this week for the biennial 11th Ministerial Conference, an issue that is confronting them is the current stance of the United States, under the Trump administration, to the multilateral trading system (MTS) incorporated in the WTO, and in particular the workings of the WTO's integrated dispute settlement system (the Dispute Settlement Understanding, DSU), and its Appellate Body.

Trade : Final General Council meet before MC11 takes up several issues   (Kanaga Raja, Geneva) (PRIV)
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The WTO General Council, at its final meeting on 30 November (Thursday) before the eleventh ministerial conference in Buenos Aires (MC11), took up a number of issues, including further extending until 31 December 2019 the period for acceptances by Members of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement relating to the import of cheaper generic medicines under compulsory license.

Environment : "What price do we put on our oceans?"   (IPS, Nairobi/New Delhi) (PRIV)
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"Political resolve is the key for succeeding in our fight against oceans pollution," Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, who is leading hands-on the organisation's global campaign to clean up seas and oceans of plastic litter, agricultural runoff and chemical dumping, told IPS.