At the core of Biotrade activities is the commercialisation of biodiversity based products and raw materials. This paper will look into one specific aspect of the BioTrade; namely: Natural ingredients from medicinal and aromatic plants for cosmetics and bio- pharmaceuticals. These natural ingredients include essential oils, natural dyes, soapy, creams, butter, and moisturizers in case of cosmetics and extracts and infusions from medicinal plants, natural medicines capsules in case of pharmaceuticals. Constraints and challenges in implementing BioTrade based on Nagoya Protocol for fair benefits sharing will also be discussed in order to meet the basic principles of BioTrade.

WTO Public Forum on BioTrade: CSEND + UNCTAD, September 2015

Biodiversity is essential for the health of the planet's ecosystems and for the livelihood of rural communities in developing countries where 70 per cent of the world’s poor live (CBD Secretariat). These communities are highly dependent on sourcing natural resources to satisfy their basic needs and to generate income and are increasingly threatened by the loss of biodiversity. The roundtable was organized by the Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development (CSEND) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Panelists were from international and intergovernmental organizations, a development bank, academia and from civil society who together discussed the opportunities and challenges for scaling up BioTrade while respecting the sustainable development policy objectives.

SESSION 29: PLURILATERALISM AGAINST MULTILATERALISM?: A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVE*

Tuesday, 25 September 2012, 18:15 — 20:15, Room S3

This session aimed to discuss the concepts of multilateralism and plurilateralism and to assess the potential impact of plurilateral agreements within the WTO multilateral trading system. Plurilateral agreements can be concluded by three or more WTO members and cover trade issues labelled WTO plus, extra or minus. They can be adopted both within and outside the WTO framework. They can be "preferential" agreements or agreements based on the most-favoured-nation (MFN) principles. Future plurilateral trade agreements negotiated within the WTO could bring more transparency, and third parties' rights would be better protected under the WTO dispute settlement procedure.

If a plurilateral agreement is adopted outside the WTO framework, other WTO members need not be included, and negotiations would not include other WTO members not party to the agreement. It would then lead to the creation of a "soft law", since a plurilateral agreement outside the WTO would not have the same legal and political weight and could not aspire to an "international standard". A plurilateral trade agreement within the WTO that extends MFN benefits to non-treaty WTO members would avoid trade distortions. Conversely, if a WTO-based plurilateral trade agreement is kept as a preferential agreement (non-MFN), it would avoid free-riding by non-members and provide an incentive for others to join.

Seminar during the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-8) of 15-17 December 2011). CSEND organised a side event focusing on the analysis of policy coherence of assistance instruments and policies made available to LDCsin to improve their service export sector. A case example from the tourism sector was used to illustrate existing policy fragmentation and lack of complementarity amongst key development instruments, i.e., DTIS, AM, PRSP etc. The Analysis was based on an in-depth study of 14 LDCs published in 2011.