World Perspectives

Disagreeing to Talk; Day of Reckoning

Disagreeing to Talk Developing countries oppose using a draft WTO text on agriculture as a basis for further negotiation, despite the fact it is merely a discussion document. By contrast, Australia, the U.S., EU, Switzerland, and Cairns group acknowledge its imperfections and have agreed to discuss amending it. The rationale for opposition is clear – just like the legal theory that possession is nine-tenths of the law, it is easier to defend and thus more difficult to amend words that are already on paper. The reason that the draft text is more acceptable to the rich countries is two-fold: 1) it involves more of what lies at the heart of the WTO, trade liberalization; and 2) being rich means being powerful and things do not happen wi...

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From WPI Consulting

Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming

WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.

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