World Trade Organisation (WTO) member states have informally agreed to return to the negotiating table to progress the Doha Agenda at a pace that recognises the present crisis-time challenges for nations globally.

The World Trade Organisation is to approve Samoa's accession to membership of the global trade body on May 10, 2012, following Montenegro's accession on April 29, 2012. Both nations have completed the necessary legislative changes to their trade regimes to achieve membership, after an eight-year accession bid from Montenegro, which began on December 10, 2004, and a fourteen-year accession bid from Samoa, which applied to begin the process for membership on April 15, 1998. The two nations will become the trade organisation's 154th and 155th members.

With South Korea and China due to begin their negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), a trilateral agreement to include Japan will also be under discussion at a prior meeting of the three countries’ trade ministers.

During a recent sitting in Rabat, presided over by Moroccan head of government Abdelilah Benkirane, Morocco’s governing council examined and adopted two bills exempting durum, soft wheat and barley from import duty. Presented by Moroccan Economy and Finance Minister Nizar Baraka, bill number 35-12 provides for the adoption of the government’s decree from March 7, extending the period of temporary suspension of import duty on durum and soft wheat.

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday it has found that the European Union (EU) and Japan have been dumping certain high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes into the Chinese market. Investigations showed the dumping has "substantially harmed" Chinese producers, and importers of those products will have to pay anti-dumping deposits to China's customs authorities starting from Wednesday, the MOC said in a preliminary ruling released on its website.

Taipei, May 5 (CNA) — Taiwan and New Zealand have completed a joint feasibility study into a bilateral economic cooperation agreement (ECA) and will officially start free trade talks in the near future, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang said Saturday.

The controversy over inclusion of a strong yarn-forward rule of origin in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that is currently being negotiated is evident in two letters sent last week - one from a bipartisan group of House members to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Ron Kirk and one from a bipartisan group of Senators to President Barack Obama — urging opposing positions on the rule. In their wake, textile, apparel and retail groups have released statements supporting one or the other of the two positions. 

Washington, May 5: US solar industry is pushing the government to drag India to the World Trade Organization, alleging that the recent Indian regulation that certain things in solar panels be manufactured in the country is in violation of the WTO rules, reports AFP.

New Delhi/PTI: India and Australia will hold the third round of negotiations for the conclusion of a comprehensive free trade agreement in Sydney later this month. "The third round of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) would be held on May 24-25 at Sydney," J K Dadoo, Joint Secretary, Commerce Ministry, said at an event here. The negotiations for CECA, which would help diversify trade and investment inflows, started in May last year.