 |
 Costa Rica |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
RD-CAFTA
Noticias
DocumentosEl
Tratado de Libre Comercio entre los EE.UU., Centroamérica
y República Dominicana Versión en inglés: Iniciativa de la Cuenca del Caribe El Caso del TLC Estados Unidos – Centroamérica Consolidando la Revolución de Libertad Centroamericana - Tabla 1 Tratado de Libre Comercio Centroamérica – Estados Unidos: Potencial para la Prosperidad de Louisiana Reportes sobre Comercio y Propiedad Intelectual: Costa Rica: Background and U.S. Relations Trade Legislation in the 108th Congress Copyright Law: Digital Rights Management Legislation Intellectual Property, Computer Software and the Open Source Movement CAFTA-DR
BRIEFING BOOK This site is an excellent source for fact sheets and other materials concerning the Central America - Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). Most of the Policy Briefs are from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), but there are links to materials produced by the International Trade Administration (ITA) and other organizations. Included in the "Briefing Book" are the following sections:
TRADE
NEGOTIATIONS DURING THE 109TH CONGRESS The United States is participating in several regional and bilateral trade negotiations. Agreements were concluded and became effective during the 108th Congress with Australia, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore. Agreements have been signed with the five countries of the Central American Common Market (CACM) and the Dominican Republic, and with Bahrain. Negotiations are underway with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Panama, and Thailand. Talks with the Andean nations of Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador began in May 2004. Negotiations are expected to begin with the United Arab Emirates and Oman early in 2005. Several other trade initiatives are under discussion, including a U.S.-Middle East FTA and an FTA with countries in southeast Asia. An ongoing regional initiative is the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In April 1998, 34 Western Hemisphere nations formally initiated negotiations on tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers in the hemisphere. Negotiators have released drafts of an agreement-in-progress. Trade ministers met in Miami in November 2003 and announced a blueprint for negotiations, but the talks have now stalled. The broadest trade initiative now being negotiated is the multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO). In November 2001, trade ministers from 142 WTO member countries agreed to launch a new round of trade talks covering market access, WTO institutional rules, and developing-country issues. A framework agreement on future negotiations was concluded in Geneva on August 1, 2004, but a new deadline has not been set for the completion of the talks. FREE TRADE: WHY ARE ECONOMISTS AND NONECONOMISTS SO FAR APART? TRADE
AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2004 This report concludes that the situation of the global economy and the outlook for developing countries is brighter than a year ago. But there is a risk that the unequal distribution of demand, the impact of higher oil prices and pressures on the dollar could lead to greater exchange-rate and financial instability and a slowdown of growth. After two years of slow growth, the world economy registered a 2.6% expansion in 2003, which is expected to accelerate to 3.8% this year. The recovery has been driven largely by the US economy and continued fast expansion in East and South Asia. Some believe that this recovery will be the start of an extended period of growth, lifting the boats in both developed and developing countries. But such optimism is dampened by imbalances in the world economy and uncertainties about oil prices, exchange rates, and the relative health of the US economy, UNCTAD finds. The big question is whether the US will continue to provide the same growth stimulus to the rest of the world as it did in 2003 and the first half of this year. Expansion last year in the developing countries (4.5%) and transition economies (5.9%) outpaced growth in the developed world (2.0%). Income growth, however, continues to be very unequally distributed among the developing countries. In East and South Asia it reached 6.0% in 2003 and is set to accelerate further this year. Since the second half of 2003 output growth has also picked up in Latin America after two years of falling per capita incomes. This is mainly due to a sharp recovery in Argentina (8.8%), where GDP had declined by almost 18% since 1998. Africa benefited from the world economic recovery less than other developing regions, although growth in North Africa increased substantially, mainly as a result of higher oil prices and a revival of tourism. Per capita income, by contrast, is stagnating in most of sub-Saharan Africa, where poverty and social deprivation continue to take their greatest toll. GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS 2005: TRADE, REGIONALISM AND DEVELOPMENT (Perspectivas economicas globales 2005: Comercio, Regionalismo y Desarrollo) English
Version Overview: The proliferation of regional trade agreements is fundamentally altering the world trade landscape. There are now over 200 agreements in force. Today as much as 40 percent of global trade takes place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement. This World Bank report addresses two questions: What are the characteristics of agreements that most promote-or hinder-development for member countries? Does the proliferation of agreements pose risks to the multilateral trading system, and if so, how can these risks be managed? The report argues that agreements leading to open regionalism--that
is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs,
increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border
and customs delays costs--are effective as part of a larger trade
strategy to promote growth. Such regional agreements can complement
a strategy that, on the one hand, includes autonomous liberalization
to promote productivity gains and, on the other hand, leverages
domestic reforms to enhance market access. Although regional agreements
can prove beneficial to member countries, they can have adverse
effects on excluded countries. The authors argue that lowering of
border barriers around the world is crucial to minimizing these
effects. The say that the completion of the Doha Development Agenda
by all countries in the World Trade Organization will reduce the
risk of trade diversion associated with regional agreements and
will decrease trade losses of countries excluded from agreements.
E-COMMERCE AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2004 Full
Report 244 pages This report is intended to provide policy-makers and practitioners with information and analysis to better assess the implications of the growing role of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in economic development. These technologies have considerable potential to promote development and economic growth. They can foster innovation and improve productivity, reduce transaction costs and make available rich stores of global knowledge. In developing countries, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the use of ICTs can bring impressive gains in employment, gender equality and standards of living. The report starts with a review of recent trends and developments in the area of ICT, e-commerce and economic development, including some aspects of ongoing international discussions on matters such as Internet governance. It also identifies areas where the application of ICT can have an impact on the performance of developing countries´ enterprises and economies. The report focuses on use of ICT by the SMEs of developing countries and policies and strategies for the development of a national ICT sector. Specific discussions on e-commerce and ICT in developing countries focus on selected topics such as the use of digital and Internet technologies in the creative industries, in particular in the music industry, and their application to higher online learning. The report also looks at government e-commerce applications in e-procurement. Finally, the report looks at the legal issues and challenges of data privacy and its role as a trust-building mechanism for information society development. INTERNATIONAL
TRADE IN GMOS [GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS]: LEGAL FRAMEWORKS
AND DEVELOPING COUNTRY CONCERNS For developing countries agro-biotechnology is a particularly challenging phenomenon. They stand to be the main beneficiaries of it, if agro-biotechnology keeps its promises. But they could also be the main losers if agro-biotechnology negatively affects biodiversity or if patented biotechnology makes access to seeds more difficult or changes the structure of food production systems. At the multilateral trade level, rules on transboundary movement of GMOs have been agreed upon in a specific legal instrument, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which recently entered into force. The interaction between this instrument and WTO rules adds challenges to an already complex scenario and might lead to international trade disputes. [Note: The text of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish at: http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety/protocol.asp] The author observes that developing countries must balance their trade interests with their responsibility to improve the quantity and quality of agricultural and food products made available to the population, as well as with their commitment to environmental preservation. Making these goals mutually supportive is not an easy task, especially for countries that still face major difficulties in dealing with the scientific aspects of agro-biotechnology, including risk assessment. Additional capacity-building efforts, including those related to the international trade dimension of the issue, therefore seem necessary. COMMUNICATING GOOD
GOVERNANCE TODAY Vínculos sobre el CAFTA del Centro Virtual de Información de la Embajada de Estados Unidos
|
|
| Copyright
© 2005, Asociación Nacional de Consumidores Libres.
Derechos reservados. San
José, Costa Rica. Teléfono: (+506) 221-9867 | Fax: (+506) 223-5832 | Correo Electrónico: acl@consumidoreslibres.org |
|||||||