New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) India today said it was against inclusion of 'data exclusivity' provision in any of its free trade agreements as it would hurt interests of the domestic pharmaceuticals industry, dominated by generics. Commerce and Industry Anand Shrma said that data protection must be respected as data exclusivity is beyond the provisions of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement under WTO.

Vietnam saw buoyant export figures in 2011’s first quarter. According to latest General Statistics Office (GSO) figures, Vietnam’s key export items saw impressive growth compared to the corresponding period in 2010. Textiles and garments raked in $2.79 billion in total export value in the first quarter, up 27.9 per cent on-year. Not including crude oil exports, footwear came second with $1.29 billion, hiking 29.7 per cent on-year. It was closely followed by seafood with $1.14 billion, jumping 30 per cent on-year.

Vietnam, the biggest Robusta producer in the world, is estimated to have earned $1 billion worth of 504,000 tons of coffee in the first quarter of this year, doubling its value on the same period of 2010 and increasing 46.1% for quantity on-year, the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development said. In March alone, the country is expected to export $330 million worth of 150,000 tons of coffee, increasing 6,000 tons from February, the General Statistic Office of Vietnam said.

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Monday called on the United States to correct its wrongdoing against China's export commodities after the World Trade Organization reversed a previous ruling. "We hope the United States implements the WTO ruling as soon as possible for stable and sound development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations," said a statement on MOC's website, quoting a spokesman for the Department of Treaty and Laws.

New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) The exemption to certain types of coking coal from customs duty is not likely to impact steel prices at present, feel experts. Industry experts welcomed the government's decision to exempt certain types of coking coal from customs duty to rein in price rise, but said the move is not going to impact steel prices at present as there are supply constraints.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization Pascal Lamy said in a speech to the Annual Session of the Parliamentary Conference that nations must do everything in their power to ensure the success of the Doha Round or risk a catastrophic weakening of the credibility of the WTO, and the Multilateral Trading System – key catalysts towards trade cooperation, greater trade powers for developing nations, and global economic growth. Addressing attendees, Lamy said:

(Reuters) - China said on Friday it complied with "most measures at issue" in an international trade ruling made against its restrictions on copyright-intensive goods such as films, books and music. But the United States, which filed the case against China years ago, took a dimmer view of Beijing's action to date and said the two sides had begun discussions of how to proceed if Washington decides to pursue a request to impose sanctions.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has taken the opportunity of the presence of US President, Barack Obama in Latin American nations to call for the commencement of trade negotiations between the two continents and the United States, noting that conditions are now right.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday that it plans to impose countervailing duties on wood-flooring imports from China, citing evidence that Beijing provided unfair subsidies to local producers. The latest in a series of trade investigations against Chinese companies has pitted U.S. flooring producers against domestic distributors that benefit from the imports.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) announced on Thursday that they will maintain the existing antidumping duty orders on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from China and some other markets. The USITC said that revoking the existing antidumping duty orders on carbon steel butt-weld pipe fittings from China, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.