WTO Process Issues

A large majority of developing countries appear to have disapproved of the "re-calibration" strategy in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations, being promoted by the WTO head, Roberto Azevedo, and the industrialised countries, that will change the existing goalposts of the talks, to the detriment of its "development goals".

In the background of informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee convened for 27 April Chakravarthi Raghavan argues that the large majority of developing countries hope WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo will come clean on what he intends to do with the previous mandates on the Doha Round talks, and whether in fact he intends to dump them as the US wants, and drastically change the special and differential treatment provisions in agriculture for developing countries in order to open their markets to heavily subsidised agri-exports of the US.

An informal meeting of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services on Monday (20 April), amongst others, heard proposals from some Members on defining the services component of the post-Bali work programme on the remaining Doha Development Agenda (DDA) issues. Members also agreed that the services component of the work programme should include market access and rule-making for services trade, with the market access negotiations needing to move in parallel with the rule- making part of the services agenda.

Indian farmers organizations and civil society groups expressed serious concern over India - US agreement over public stockholding issue at the WTO negotiation. In a letter to commerce minister they argued that Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) needs to be rejected not only as a strategy but on its own lack of merit.

The United States and its close ‘allies' in industrialised countries, appear to be bent on continuing their campaign to paralyse all negotiations and talks at the WTO - on the other parts of the Bali package, a post-Bali work programme, and the Doha Round - by refusing ‘to work' on other issues, until the US-EU cherished protocol on the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is agreed to and delivered. In this SUNS - South North Development Monitor article By Chakravarthi Raghavan analyses latest state of play in WTO negotiations and US & allies' negotiation strategies.

In the backdrop of G20 trade ministers meeting on July 19 at Sydney, Deborah James writes on various critical issues that are important for developing countries and least developed countries as this meeting can be used to build consensus toward positions that can be brought back to forums where decisions can be enforced, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In the backdrop of trade ministers meet in Sydney, today, 164 civil society organizations and trade unions from more than 150 developing and developed countries urged government representatives in Geneva to “condition the entry into force of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) to the conclusion and fulfillment of the Development mandate under the Doha negotiations.”

In a letter to members of World Trade Organization (WTO) on 22 January 2014, OWINFS network opposed convening mini-ministerial on the subject of WTO in the World Economic Forum (WEF) held on 22-27 January at Davos, Switzerland. The letter stated that, it is completely inappropriate to discuss WTO issues, as WEF is forum where almost exclusively Trade Ministers of the richest and most powerful countries and representatives of the most powerful corporate interests participate.