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DESIGN OF STUDY

OBJECTIVES

To study the history of World Trade Organization (WTO).

To understand the history of WTO. 

To know the benefits of WTO.

To know the Doha Round.

To know the causes of Doha failure.

METHODOLOGY

Research is a systematic quest for knowledge. That means, techniques

and frames of reference by which a researcher approaches and carries out

enquiry is known as ―methodology‖. Data is an input for my project;

likewise the data has been collected from the following sources.

The inputs of the project were mainly accumulated through the

 primary research and the secondary information.

The primary information was gathered through interactions and

discussions with the employees of the Agricultural insurance companies and

the farmers and owners of cattles and poultry farmers.

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The sources of secondary information were various books, magazines,

articles, and web.

Once the information was gathered, it was properly evaluated. Then

inferences were carefully drawn on the basis of pf the primary data collected

after going through series of deliberations. The output was thus produced.

The goal of fulfillment of the objective of the project was thus achieved.

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CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION?

The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the rules of trade between nations at a

global or near-global level. But there is more to it than that.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing

with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and

signed by the bulk of the world‘s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is

to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.  

Born in 1995, but not so young

The WTO began life on 1 January 1995, but its trading system is half a century older. Since

1948, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had provided the rules for the

system. (The second WTO ministerial meeting, held in Geneva in May 1998, included a

celebration of the 50th anniversary of the system.)

It did not take long for the General Agreement to give birth to an unofficial, de

 facto international organization, also known informally as GATT. Over the years GATT

evolved through several rounds of negotiations.

The last and largest GATT round, was the Uruguay Round which lasted from 1986 to 1994

and led to the WTO‘s creation. Whereas GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods, the

WTO and its agreements now cover trade in services, and in traded inventions, creations and

designs (intellectual property).

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WHO ARE THEY 

The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of 

negotiations. The bulk of the WTO‘s current work comes from the 1986– 94 negotiations

called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs

and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the ‗Doha

Development Agenda‘ launched in 2001. 

Where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them lowered, the negotiations have

helped to open markets for trade. But the WTO is not just about opening markets, and in

some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers — for example, to protect

consumers or prevent the spread of disease.

At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the wo rld‘s

trading nations. These documents provide the legal ground rules for international commerce.

They are essentially contracts, binding governments to keep their trade policies within agreed

limits. Although negotiated and signed by governments, the goal is to help producers of 

goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business, while allowing

governments to meet social and environmental objectives.

The system‘s overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible — so long as there

are no undesirable side effects — because this is important for economic development and

well-being. That partly means removing obstacles. It also means ensuring that individuals,

companies and governments know what the trade rules are around the world, and giving them

the confidence that there will be no sudden changes of policy. In other words, the rules have

to be ‗transparent‘ and predictable. 

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Trade relations often involve conflicting interests. Agreements, including those painstakingly

negotiated in the WTO system, often need interpreting. The most harmonious way to settle

these differences is through some neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation.

That is the purpose behind the dispute settlement process written into the WTO agreements.

WHAT THEY DO 

While the WTO is driven by its member states, it could not function without its Secretariat to

coordinate the activities. The Secretariat employs over 600 staff and its experts  — lawyers,

economists, statisticians and communications experts — assist WTO members on a daily

 basis to ensure, among other things, that negotiations progress smoothly, and that the rules of 

international trade are correctly applied and enforced.

1.  Trade negotiations

The WTO agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. They spell out the

 principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions. They include individual countries‘

commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open

services markets. They set procedures for settling disputes. These agreements are not static;

they are renegotiated from time to time and new agreements can be added to the package.

Many are now being negotiated under the Doha Development Agenda, launched by WTO

trade ministers in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.

2.  Implementation and monitoring

WTO agreements require governments to make their trade policies transparent by notifying

the WTO about laws in force and measures adopted. Various WTO councils and committees

seek to ensure that these requirements are being followed and that WTO agreements are

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 being properly implemented. All WTO members must undergo periodic scrutiny of their 

trade policies and practices, each review containing reports by the country concerned and the

WTO Secretariat.

3.  Dispute settlement

The WTO‘s procedure for resolving trade quarrels under the Dispute Settlement

Understanding is vital for enforcing the rules and therefore for ensuring that trade flows

smoothly. Countries bring disputes to the WTO if they think their rights under the agreements

are being infringed. Judgements by specially appointed independent experts are based on

interpretations of the agreements and individual countries‘ commitments.

4.  Building trade capacity

WTO agreements contain special provision for developing countries, including longer time

 periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their trading

opportunities, and support to help them build their trade capacity, to handle disputes and to

implement technical standards. The WTO organizes hundreds of technical cooperation

missions to developing countries annually. It also holds numerous courses each year in

Geneva for government officials. Aid for Trade aims to help developing countries develop

the skills and infrastructure needed to expand their trade.

5.  Outreach

The WTO maintains regular dialogue with non-governmental organizations,

 parliamentarians, other international organizations, the media and the general public on

various aspects of the WTO and the ongoing Doha negotiations, with the aim of enhancing

cooperation and increasing awareness of WTO activities. 

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WHAT THEY STAND FOR 

1.  Non-discrimination

A country should not discriminate between its trading partners and it should not discriminate

 between its own and foreign products, services or nationals.

2.  More open

Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvious ways of encouraging trade; these barriers

include customs duties (or tariffs) and measure such as import bans or quotas that restrict

quantities selectively.

3.  Predictable and transparent

Foreign companies, investors and governments should be confident that trade barriers should

not be raised arbitrarily. With stability and predictability, investment is encouraged, jobs are

created and consumers can fully enjoy the benefits of competition  — choice and lower prices.

4.  More competitive

Discouraging ‗unfair‘ practices, such as export subsidies and dumping products at below cost

to gain market share; the issues are complex, and the rules try to establish what is fair or 

unfair, and how governments can respond, in particular by charging additional import duties

calculated to compensate for damage caused by unfair trade.

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5.  More beneficial for less developed countries

Giving them more time to adjust, greater flexibility and special privileges; over three-quarters

of WTO members are developing countries and countries in transition to market economies.

The WTO agreements give them transition periods to adjust to the more unfamiliar and,

 perhaps, difficult WTO provisions.

6.  Protect the environment

The WTO‘s agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the

environment but also public health, animal health and plant health. However, these measures

must be applied in the same way to both national and foreign businesses. In other words,

members must not use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising

 protectionist policies.

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CHAPTER 2

HISTORY OF WTO

The World Trade Organization came into existence in nineteen ninety-five. It operates a

system of trade rules. It serves as a place for nations to settle disputes and negotiate

agreements to reduce trade barriers. The newest of its one hundred fifty members, Vietnam,

 joined in January.

But the roots of the W.T.O. date back to World War Two and the years that followed.

In nineteen forty-four, a meeting took place in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire: the

International Monetary Conference. There, negotiators agreed to create the International

Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But they could not agree on an organization to deal with

international trade.

Three years later, in nineteen forty-seven, twenty-three nations approved the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or GATT. It was meant to be temporary. Trade negotiations

under GATT were carried out in a series of talks called rounds. The first round lowered

import taxes on one-fifth of world trade. Later rounds produced additional cuts, and

negotiators added more issues.

The sixth round began in nineteen sixty-three. It was called the Kennedy Round after the

murder of President John F. Kennedy. The results included an agreement against trade

dumping. This is when one country sells a product in another country at an unfairly low price.

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The eighth round of talks began in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in nineteen eighty-six. The

Uruguay Round lasted almost twice as long as planned. In all, one hundred twenty-three

nations took part in seven-and-a-half years of work. They set time limits for future

negotiations. They also agreed to create a permanent system to settle trade disputes.

In April of nineteen ninety-four, most of those one hundred twenty-three nations signed an

agreement. It replaced GATT with the World Trade Organization.

The W.T.O. launched a new round on development issues in Doha, Qatar, in November of 

two thousand one. These talks were supposed to end by January of two thousand five. But

negotiators could not agree on issues involving agricultural protections. The current round

has been suspended since last July.

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CHAPTER 3

STRUCTURE

The WTO has about 150 members, accounting for about 95% of world trade. Around 30 others

are negotiating membership.

Decisions are made by the entire membership. This is typically by consensus. A majority vote

is also possible but it has never been used in the WTO, and was extremely rare under the

WTO‘s predecessor, GATT. The WTO‘s agreements have been ratified in all members‘

 parliaments.

The WTO‘s top level decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference which meets at

least once every two years.

Below this is the General Council (normally ambassadors and heads of delegation in Geneva,

 but sometimes officials sent from members‘ capitals) which meets several times a year in the

Geneva headquarters. The General Council also meets as the Trade Policy Review Body and

the Dispute Settlement Body.

At the next level, the Goods Council, Services Council and Intellectual Property (TRIPS)

Council report to the General Council.

 Numerous specialized committees, working groups and working partiesdeal with the

individual agreements and other areas such as the environment, development, membership

applications and regional trade agreements.

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CHAPTER 4

THE WTO AGREEMENTS

The WTO‘s rules — the agreements — are the result of negotiations between the members.

The current set were the outcome of the 1986 – 94 Uruguay Round negotiations which included

a major revision of the original General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

GATT is now the WTO‘s principal rule-book for trade in goods. The Uruguay Round also

created new rules for dealing with trade in services, relevant aspects of intellectual property,

dispute settlement, and trade policy reviews. The complete set runs to some 30,000 pages

consisting of about 30 agreements and separate commitments (called schedules) made by

individual members in specific areas such as lower customs duty rates and services market-

opening.

Through these agreements, WTO members operate a non-discriminatory trading system that

spells out their rights and their obligations. Each country receives guarantees that its exports

will be treated fairly and consistently in other countries‘ markets. Each promises to do the same

for imports into its own market. The system also gives developing countries some flexibility in

implementing their commitments.

Goods

It all began with trade in goods. From 1947 to 1994, GATT was the forum for negotiating

lower customs duty rates and other trade barriers; the text of the General Agreement spelt out

important rules, particularly non-discrimination.

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Since 1995, the updated GATT has become the WTO‘s umbrella agreement for trade in goods.

It has annexes dealing with specific sectors such as agriculture and textiles, and with specific

issues such as state trading, product standards, subsidies and actions taken against dumping.

Services

Banks, insurance firms, telecommunications companies, tour operators, hotel chains and

transport companies looking to do business abroad can now enjoy the same principles of freer 

and fairer trade that originally only applied to trade in goods.

These principles appear in the new General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). WTO

members have also made individual commitments under GATS stating which of their services

sectors they are willing to open to foreign competition, and how open those markets are.

Intellectual property

The WTO‘s intellectual property agreement amounts to rules for trade and investment in ideas

and creativity. The rules state how copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical names used to

identify products, industrial designs, integrated circuit layout-designs and undisclosed

information such as trade secrets —  ―intellectual property‖ — should be protected when trade

is involved.

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CHAPTER 5

WTO IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Development and trade Over three quarters of WTO members are developing or least-

developed countries. All WTO agreements contain special provision for them, including longer 

time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their trading

opportunities and support to help them build the infrastructure for WTO work, handle disputes,

and implement technical standards.

The 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha set out tasks, including negotiations, for a wide range

of issues concerning developing countries. Some people call the new negotiations the Doha

Development Round.

Before that, in 1997, a high-level meeting on trade initiatives and technical assistance for least-

developed countries resulted in an ―integrated framework‖ involving six intergovernmental

agencies, to help least-developed countries increase their ability to trade, and some additional

 preferential market access agreements.

A WTO committee on trade and development, assisted by a sub-committee on least-developed

countries, looks at developing countries‘ special needs. Its responsibility includes

implementation of the agreements, technical cooperation, and the increased participation of 

developing countries in the global trading system.

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CHAPTER 6

THE BENEFITS OF WTO

World Trade Organization helps member states in various ways and this enables them

to reap benefits such as:

1.  Helps promote peace within nations: Peace is partly an outcome of two of the most

fundamental principle of the trading system; helping trade flow smoothly and

 providing countries with a constructive and fair outlet for dealing with disputes over 

trade issues. Peace creates international confidence and cooperation that the WTO

creates and reinforces.

2.  Disputes are handled constructively: As trade expands in volume, in the numbers of 

 products traded and in the number of countries and company trading, there is a greater 

chance that disputes will arise. WTO helps resolve these disputes peacefully and

constructively. If this could be left to the member states, the dispute may lead to

serious conflict, but lot of trade tension is reduced by organizations such as WTO.

3.  Rules make life easier for all: WTO system is based on rules rather than power and

this makes life easier for all trading nations. WTO reduces some inequalities giving

smaller countries more voice, and at the same time freeing the major powers from the

complexity of having to negotiate trade agreements with each of the member states.

4.  Free trade cuts the cost of living: Protectionism is expensive, it raises prices, and

WTO lowers trade barriers through negotiation and applies the principle of non-

discrimination. The result is reduced costs of production (because imports used in

 production are cheaper) and reduced prices of finished goods and services, and

ultimately a lower cost of living.

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5.  It provides more choice of products and qualities: It gives consumer more choice

and a broader range of qualities to choose from.

6.  Trade raises income: Through WTO trade barriers are lowered and this increases

imports and exports thus earning the country foreign exchange thus raising the

country's income.

7.  Trade stimulates economic growth: With upward trend economic growth, jobs can

 be created and this can be enhanced by WTO through careful policy making and

 powers of freer trade.

8.  Basic principles make life more efficient: The basic principles make the system

economically more efficient and they cut costs. Many benefits of the trading system

are as a result of essential principle at the heart of the WTO system and they make life

simpler for the enterprises directly involved in international trade and for the

 producers of goods/services. Such principles include; non-discrimination,

transparency, increased certainty about trading conditions etc. together they make

trading simpler, cutting company costs and increasing confidence in the future and

this in turn means more job opportunities and better goods and services for 

consumers.

9.  Governments are shielded from lobbying: WTO system shields the government

from narrow interest. Government is better placed to defend themselves against

lobbying from narrow interest groups by focusing on trade-offs that are made in the

interests of everyone in the economy.

10. The system encourages good governance: The WTO system encourages good

government. The WTO rules discourage a range of unwise policies and the

commitment made to liberalize a sector of trade becomes difficult to reverse. These

rules reduce opportunities for corruption.

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CHAPTER 7

IMPACT OF WTO ON INDIA

World Trade Organisation: India is one of the (out of 104) founder members of the WTO.

The GATT was not an organization but it was only a legal agreement. On the other hand

WTO is designed to play the role of watchdog in the spheres of trade in goods, trade in

services, foreign investment, intellectual property rights etc.

There was much heated discussion and arguments for and against regarding India becoming a

member of the WTO.

India was one of the 76 Governments that became members of the WTO on the first day of 

the formation of WTO. Thus, India was one of the founder members of the WTO.

BENEFITS TO INDIA

The GATT secretariat estimated that largest increase in the level of merchandise trade in

goods (in general, it would be US $ 745 billion .by the end of 2005) will be in the areas of 

clothing (60 per cent), agriculture, forestry and fishery products (20 per cent) and processed

food and beverages (19 per cent). India's competitive advantage lies in these fields. Hence, it

is logical to believe that India will obtain large gains in these sectors.

India's textile and clothing exports will increase due to the phasing out of Multi-fibre

An'angement (MFA) by 2005.

· The reduction in agricultural subsidies and barriers to export of agricultural products,

agricultural exports from India will increase.

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· The multilateral rules and disciplines relating to anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing

measures, safeguards and disputes settlement machinery will ensure greater security and

 predictability of international trade. This would be favourable environment for India's

international business.

· India along with other developing countries has the market access to a number of advanced

countries due to the imposition of the clauses concerning to trade without discrimination.

DISADVANTAGE TO INDIA

Despite the benefits of WTO to India, many economists and sociologists argue that, India

would be

in a disadvantageous position by becoming a member of WTO. Their argument include:

· Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs): Protection of intellectual property rights

(patents, copyrights, trademarks etc.) has been made stringent. It is argued that the TRIPs

agreement goes against the Indian Patents Act, 1970. Only process patents can be granted in

food, chemicals and medicines under the Indian Patents Act. TRIPs agreement provides for 

granting product patents also. Under TRIPs patents can be granted to methods of agriculture

and horticulture, bio-technological process including living organism like plants and animals.

The duration of patents under TRIPs is 20 years.

· Introduction of product patents in India will lead to hike in drug prices by the MNCs who

have the product patent. This will hit the poor people who will not have the generic option

open.

· The extension of intellectual property right to agriculture has negative effects on India.

Presently, plant breeding and seed production are largely, in the public domain. Indian

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scientists have undertaken plant breeding and multiplication is in the hands of National and

State Seed Corporations. Government, through this machinery, provides seed to Indian

farmers at very low prices. Indian scientists, in future will find it extremely difficult to breed

new varieties and Indian research institutions will be unable to compete financially with

MNCs and will be denied access to patented genetic material. MNCs will get the control over 

our genetic resources and as such the control over food production would be jeopardised.

· Patenting has also been extended to a large area of micro-organisms.

· Application of TRIMs agreement undermines any plan or strategy of self-reliant growth

 based on local technology and resources.

· Services: Service sector like insurance, banking, telecommunications, transportation is

 backward in India compared to that of developed countries. Therefore, inclusion of trade in

services is detrimental to the interest of India. Liberalisation of service sector would be under 

tremendous pressure.

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CHAPTER 8

DOHA ROUND (DOHA AGENDA)

The Doha Development Agenda is the ninth WTO multilateral trade round of negotiations

launched in Doha, Qatar in November 2001 that was to be concluded by early 2005. Some of 

the main points on the agenda were reduction of barriers in the services sector, environmental

issues, and freer trade in agricultural goods. Moreover, Doha was the first WTO round in

which big emerging markets like Brazil, China or India had an important saying, thus

increasing the complexity of negotiations. 

However, talks collapsed several times and deadlines were constantly overdue. After ten

years, trade negotiators have failed to reach an agreement and it seems challenging to end the

Doha Round in the foreseeable future. Due to Doha‘s collapse a number of countries are

resorting to bilateral negotiations or regional trade agreements instead of the lengthy

multilateral process negotiations of the WTO.

The failure of Doha threatens the credibility of the multilateral trade system and raises

attention on the need of reforming the outdated structure of WTO in order to reflect better the

circumstances of the 21st century.

To begin with I am going to identify the causes of the Doha failure and point out how it

affected the credibility of the WTO. Secondly, I will analyze the current tendency towards

signing bilateral free trade agreements as well as the proliferation of inter-regional

agreements. In the end I will discuss about the consequences of these tendencies in

correlation to the global trade.

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The WTO launched the current round of negotiations, the Doha Development Round, at the

fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. This was to be an ambitious

effort to make globalization more inclusive and help the world's poor, particularly by slashing

 barriers and subsidies in farming. The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization

and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to

developing countries.

The negotiations have been highly contentious. Disagreements still continue over several key

areas including agriculture subsidies, which emerged as critical in July 2006. According to

a European Union statement, "The 2008 Ministerial meeting broke down over a disagreement

 between exporters of agricultural bulk commodities and countries with large numbers of 

subsistence farmers on the precise terms of a 'special safeguard measure' to protect farmers

from surges in imports." The position of the European Commission is that "The successful

conclusion of the Doha negotiations would confirm the central role of multilateral liberalisation

and rule-making. It would confirm the WTO as a powerful shield against protectionist

 backsliding." An impasse remains and, as of August 2013, agreement has not been reached,

despite intense negotiations at several ministerial conferences and at other sessions. On 27

March 2013, the chairman of agriculture talks announced "a proposal to loosen price support

disciplines for developing countries‘ public stocks and domestic food aid." He added: ―...we are

not yet close to agreement — in fact, the substantive discussion of the proposal is only

 beginning.‖

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CHAPTER 9

THE WTO AND THE DOHA ROUND: THE WAY FORWARD” 

Giving a name to a round of trade negotiations is also a complex business. As in our 

traditional societies, there is a collective decision, a celebration and quite a lot of movement

and whispering amongst the WTO family. What trade negotiators have not yet learnt from the

wise people of our villages — is to wait a while until they give a name. The current round of 

trade negotiations — the Doha Development Agenda, or DDA in our jargon, bears the name

of the city of Doha, the capital of Qatar, where the round was launched in the WTO

Ministerial in 2001. It also has the word ―Development‖ in it — meaning that this round

should be focused on, or aimed at, development.

The decision by WTO Members in 2001 to designate the Doha Round development Round

was a recognition that there remain, in today's multilateral trading system's rules and

disciplines, imbalances that penalise developing countries — and this must be corrected. The

intention, therefore, is to try to improve the multilateral disciplines and the commitments by

all Members of the WTO in such a way that they establish a more level playing field and

 provide developing countries with better conditions to enable them to reap the benefits of 

opening trade.

Started in 2001, the end date for the Round is soon approaching — it is the end of this year as

a matter of fact. This is not a date that our membership has picked out of the blue; it is not a

date that has fallen out of a hat. Rather, it is a date that corresponds to the expiry of the Trade

Promotion Authority of the United States. And conventional wisdom has it that it will not be

extended. We therefore have little time to waste and a huge task in front of us.

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It reminds me of the days prior to the opening of the Olympic Games: construction works

everywhere, signals to be put up, paint not finished, computers still to be cabled and only days

 before sportsmen and women jump on the arena. What are needed in these days are hard work,

determination and nerves to focus on the final goal: a strengthening of the multilateral trading

system to the benefit of all but in particular developing countries.

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THE MOMENT OF TRUTH APPROACHING IN THESE NEGOTIATIONS

Since the beginning of this year, intensive activity has been taking place at various levels

across the whole spectrum of the DDA in order to improve what is already on the table. The

negotiating machine is humming and buzzing with activity. Work in Geneva has been

complemented by a number of initiatives among some Members aimed at trying to take the

negotiation forward. This seminar today is one of these activities and as such a valuable

contribution to realising what is at stake for India but also for the multilateral trading system.

The focus of negotiations today is reaching an agreement by April on three key issues: the

quantum of reduction of agricultural domestic subsidies, the quantum of reduction of tariffs

on agricultural products as well as on industrial products. The WTO 150 members agreed in

Hong Kong to reach convergence on the key numbers on these three areas by April.

This triangle of issues corresponds to a triangle of members: the European Union needs to do

more on agricultural tariffs; the United States need to do more on reducing agricultural

subsidies and the G-20 group of countries, where India is a key member, needs to do more on

industrial tariffs. What is already on offer is important compared to what was done in the

Uruguay Round but more is needed to reach a deal on the core issues. Given the high

expectations of developing countries in this round, there is no way that WTO members will

settle for a ―cheap round‖. Finding the right level of ambition on the triangle of issues, which

will serve as benchmark for the remainder of the issues on the agenda is our challenge

number one.

There are only 24 days to go to the end of April. The moment of truth is therefore fast

approaching. We do not have time to waste. It would be a huge collective mistake to

 postpone the establishment of modalities by the end of April. Back loading the three key

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areas of agriculture domestic support and market access in agriculture and industrial products

is, in my view, a recipe for failure. We need to make rapid progress in these three areas as

soon as possible as they hold the key to unlock the many other issues which also need to fall

into place to conclude this Round by the end of the year.

Setting these three issues is by no means the end of the round. We will need to continue

advancing the agenda on opening up trade in services, rules (including transparency in bilateral

trade agreements, anti-dumping and subsidies), trade facilitation, trade & environment, TRIPS,

Dispute Settlement or Aid for Trade to name a few. As you can see the menu seems almost as

challenging as a cricket One Day Match. I hope over the coming days WTO negotiators follow

the spirit of the India‘s cricket team as it plays against England today and go for a win rather 

than for a draw. 

Subjects treated under the Doha Development Agenda

Agriculture

> Original Doha mandate (par 13, 14) ¦ Explanation

> Doha Implementation Decision (section 2) ¦ Explanation

> July 2004 package ¦ Annex A

> Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration ¦ Annex A

> Follow developments: agriculture negotiations ¦ agriculture gateway

Cotton

> July 2004 package

> Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration

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> Follow developments: cotton Sub-Committee ¦ agriculture negotiations ¦ agriculture

gateway

Services 

> Original Doha mandate (par 15) ¦ Explanation

> July 2004 package ¦ Annex C

> Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration ¦ Annex C

> Follow developments: services negotiations ¦ services gateway

Market access for non-agricultural products (NAMA) 

> Original Doha mandate (par 16) ¦ Explanation

> July 2004 package ¦ Annex B

> Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration ¦ Annex B

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CHAPTER 10

CAUSES OF THE DOHA FAILURE

In this section of the paper, I will identify some significant factors responsible for the round‘s

failure. Firstly, Doha‘s failure was partly due to the division between developed and

developing countries. Emerging economies have become a dominant force in the global

economy and are having a stronger power of influence than ever. For example, when China

entered the WTO in 2001, no one expected it to become the world‘s largest exporter in 2010;

now, issues like China tariff profile or renminbi value have become of global interest giving

China great influence during negotiations. (Hufbauer; 2011)

As Susan Schwab stressed, the Doha‘s round should have addressed a central question:  what 

are the relative roles and responsibilities of advanced, emerging and developing 

countries? The answer to this question should have begun with proper definitions of these

terms as some countries are incorrectly perceived as representing the interests of developing

or emerging countries when, they in reality, have an agenda of their own. Furthermore, an

appropriate response would have helped to form a better picture of what the balance of power 

is and how this order affects interests of each country.

During Doha‘s negotiations, the emerging economies pursued maximum flexibility f or their 

group and focused on the market-opening obligations of the developed countries. On the

other hand important actors like the United States or the European Union have lost ground in

negotiating. The greatest cuts in tariffs and the most significant burdens fall on the developed

countries, while developing countries enjoy more relaxed cuts and slower implementation

time, having significant flexibility. In this sense, we can see that the balance of power is

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shifting and emerging economies gain more and more influence while the US and EU are

losing ground.

Another issue was agricultural trade, a sensitive topic especially for countries like US and the

EU that heavily subsidy this economic sector. Negotiators showed concerned that the sever 

tariff cuts will affect their economies without any significant gains. So it was difficult for 

governments to convince domestic interest groups to agree with the tariff cuts. Nevertheless,

at the Hong Kong Ministerial in 2005, governments reached an agreement in this direction

(the EU agreed to eliminate agricultural export subsidies by 2013 while industrialized

countries agreed to eliminate 97% of the tariffs on exports of the least developed countries).

Timing was another issue as the TPA expiration in 2007 raised concern between US trade

 partners about whether the US congress will accept the negotiated commitments. In addition,

after 2008, the Doha round was confronted with the financial crisis and with the rapid

changes that took place in the global economy which made the negotiation structure and the

dichotomy between developed and developing countries obsolete.

The global trade after Doha: What’s next? 

Saving Doha seems to be an impossible mission but no country wants to be held responsible

for the round‘s collapse. Prolonging the Doha round might end up jeopardizing the

multilateral trade system as well as threaten future prospects for WTO-led liberalization and

reform.

A viable option could be to salvage at least the partial agreements that resulted from

negotiations and focus on launching new multilateral initiatives to restore trust in the WTO

and keep the organization on track to achieving its goals. By agreeing on these terms the

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multilateral trade system would benefit of more credibility as it will provide near-term

results. (Susan Schwab; 2010)

 Nonetheless, as WTO members fail to provide a solution for the Doha a large number of 

countries have chosen to engage in bilateral and regional trade agreements, tendency that

might indicate reluctance towards the multilateral trade system.

Some explanations for the proliferation of this kind of agreements can be provided (Oatley;

2010): countries resort to FTA‘s in order to avoid taking decisions they  perceive as difficult

as these agreements represent a quick solution. Also, countries could gain acces to a market

that represents a real importance to them. Other arguments are that governments use RTA‘s

to convince trade partners of their openness and investor-friendly policies but as well in order 

to increase their bargaining power (especially for smaller countries).

Regardless of the motivation, on the long term, the quality of those agreements is doubtable

as the west majority exclude other trading nations, including developing countries.

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CHAPTER 11

CONCLUSION

Forward is the only legitimate direction for both the WTO and the Doha Development Round

and both need to change and adapt to do this. For the Round, the route and plan are possibly

simpler. Members must reach a compromise with the existing agenda or by changing aspects

of it and then rise to the unenviable challenge of completion with some form of positive

results. The WTO on the other hand has more of a marathon ahead although yet the goal is

achievable. The targets are set out, as is the means to reach them. The part that remains is

 perhaps the hardest part but also the most rewarding, implementing the proposed change and

finally reaping the rewards. Those rewards would without a doubt be a more prosperous

future in this globalised world.

Who would be the main losers from a failure of the Round? First would be the developing

world, the opportunity to redress the existing imbalances in multilateral trade relations will

diminish. Were this Round to fail, developing countries would pay the highest price. Next

would be the smallest and weakest economies, for which the multilateral process acts as an

―insurance policy‖ against the pressure exerted by the strong in bilateral trade accords. The

 biggest loser, however, would undoubtedly be the WTO, the system that has served the

collective interests of 150 different members, and that has ensured a trade opening that is

adapted to changing realities and that is based on a consensus between us all.

A new pathway out of the current impasse will require the US to move beyond its narrow

―mercantilist‖ assessment of the gains that it will make from the round. Seen from this

narrow perspective ―what‘s on the table‖ is relatively modest and falls short of the demands

of US business lobbies. However, the gains for developing countries ―on the table ―will also

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fall far short of their initial demands and the promises made in the Doha development

mandate.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

  http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/10ben_e/10b00_e.htm

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Wto-1294852.html

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and-inter-regional-ftas-and-what-are-the-consequences-for-global-trade/  

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