Trade : General Council suspended, lack of consensus on TF Protocol (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The General Council meeting on Friday, which discussed the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), was suspended in the evening on account of a lack of consensus on the Protocol of Amendment with respect to the Agreement.

Trade : Supports announced for WTO TFA insufficient or misdirected (PRIV)
(Jeronim Capaldo, Medford)
Discussions in the World Trade Organization on how to implement the Bali Agreement on Trade Facilitation are facing several challenges including firm requests by developing countries to exempt food security programs from unfair-competition penalties (see SUNS #7852 dated 25 July 2014).

BRICS : The end of Western dominance of global financial, economic order (PRIV)
(Shyam Saran, New Delhi)
The sixth BRICS Summit which has just ended in Brazil marks the transition of a grouping based hitherto on shared concerns to one based on shared interests.

Development : Report finds South Asia's poor on a knife's edge (PRIV)
(IPS, Colombo)
Millions still live in poverty and even those who have gained the security of the middle-income bracket could relapse into poverty due to sudden changes to their economic fortunes in South Asia, the latest annual Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) revealed.

Africa : Social protection needed to reduce inequalities (PRIV)
(IPS, Yaounde)
For the last 13 years, Michael Ndah, 37, has worked for three road construction companies in Cameroon, but it is only in the last two years that his current employer has managed to register him with the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS).

Note to Readers : Holiday Notice (PRIV)
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Due to the Eid Al-Fitr holiday for UN offices in Geneva, the next issue SUNS #7854 will appear on 30 July.