« Yes, we have bananas. We just can't ship them. | Main | Hong Kong shines »

Last day update

As we're sitting here in the press centre, dare I say twiddling our thumbs, the latest is roughly as follows:

Last night, a story first put out by the AP quoted the Indian Trade Minister as saying that there was a deal agreed upon by all parties to fully liberalise agricultural trade.  The EU quickly rebutted by saying no deal had been reached.  Now, it seems that the consensus is that the agreed target date to remove market distortions in the agricultural sector is 2013.  Agreed upon, that is, by all but one important player in global trade talks, Brazil.  Apparently they're pushing for an earlier date, which would seem to put the Mandy and the rest of the EU negotiators in a bit of a bind.

There are still about 20 or 30 people staging a peaceful protests outside where the most violent activity took place last night.  Inside, a handful of NGOs who are chanting about the importance of Korean rice.  And the perils of corporations.  No word yet on whether they manufacture their own clothes and harvest their own food.  Or whether they took their canoes from Europe or decided to swim.

Rumours are flying around the press centre and no one can be sure of what exactly is going on.  More news as it comes.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83459e2e769e200d83559184c69e2

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Last day update:

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.