WTO Public Symposium 2003: Fulfilling the Doha Agenda

The Doha Agenda is embodied in the three major documents produced during the Doha conference: the Doha Declaration, the linked decision on implementation, and the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement.  Based on the programs set forth in these document, WTO Members face the enormous tasks of negotiating to clarify specific commitments under agreements made as early as the Uruguay Round and preparing for post-Cancun negotiations on a host of other topics. These goals under the agenda have already presented a number of problems for developing countries. 

Background: The Doha Agenda

THE DOHA DECLARATION:

The Doha agenda consists primarily of the Doha Declaration, which does the following:

1.      Mandates negotiations on: some implementation issues (see “Implementation” below), agriculture, services, market access for non-agricultural products, TRIPS, WTO rules (on anti-dumping,  subsidies, regional trade agreements), Dispute Settlement Understanding, and trade and environment.

Except for Dispute Settlement Understanding and two other relatively minor issues, deadlines for all negotiations have been set for January 1, 2005.

  2.      Mandates preparation for negotiations on: trade and investment, trade and competition policy, transparency in government procurement, and trade facilitation.

Based upon the results of this preparation, to be presented at the 5^th Ministerial, modalities for negotiations will be established and negotiations will begin after the ministerial in Cancun. Negotiations should be completed by January 1, 2005.

  3.      Establishes new working groups to research: trade, debt, and finance; and trade and transfer of technology.

  4.      Instructs the General Council to do work (i.e. establish a work program, raise funds for technical assistance, etc.) on: e-commerce, small economies, and technical cooperation and capacity building. 

The negotiations mandated under the Doha Declaration (item 1) have been handled by the WTO’s new Trade Negotiations Council.  The TNC organizes Negotiating Groups for each of the issues, some of which are new, and some of which are created by having a special session of an existing WTO body. Each Negotiating Group is expected to report to the TNC, which, in turn, will present the General Council with a full report on the results each negotiating group has found at the Cancun Ministerial.

For many of the issues, the negotiations process has three major stages, each with its own deadline.  The first deadline is for Members to submit proposals for how to implement the WTO agreement on the issue.  The second deadline is for Members to respond to each other’s proposals. The final deadline is for a final agreement.

Almost all negotiations have a mandated deadline of January 1, 2005, in accordance with the WTO’s “single undertaking” agenda.  The purpose of this agenda is to ensure that all issues are inextricably linked and form a coherent plan under the WTO’s broad mission of liberalizing trade to promote development.  

THE LINKED DECISION ON IMPLEMENTATION:

Before the Doha conference, developing countries raised over 100 issues in implementation which they wanted to see resolved.  “ ‘Implementation’ is short-hand for developing countries’ problems in implementing the current WTO Agreements, i.e. the agreements arising from the Uruguay Round negotiations.” (1)  Over 40 decisions on how negotiations should proceed for 12 issues were reached. The issues are: GATT, Agriculture, SPS measures, Textiles and clothing, Technical Barriers to Trade, Investment, Anti-dumping, Customs Valuation. Rules of origin, Subsidies, TRIPs, and Cross-cutting issues.

Many of these decisions clarify obligations under existing WTO agreements which were obscured by vague language, and explicitly take note of difficulties that developing countries have been having in fulfilling their WTO commitments.

Other implementation issues for which negotiations were not specifically mandated above would still be given high priority and handled by the relevant WTO councils and committees.

Problems Fulfilling the Agenda

The post-Doha negotiations have been proceeding at a rate much slower than anticipated. Deadlines for stages of several negotiations have been missed, and some have been missed repeatedly.

For many issues which require proposals from Members before discussions can begin, developing countries have been especially slow in submitting their documents.  The most-frequently-cited reason for this is lack of resources. In order to create well-informed proposals, each country must research its current state of affairs in the relevant topic area to decide what would be in its best interest.  This research is time-consuming and expensive.  In addition, because of the “single-undertaking” effort, countries face an overwhelmingly large agenda.  For those who have only one or two WTO specialists, it is simply impossible to meet all these deadlines in a well-informed manner (2).

In other topic areas where negotiations have already begun, agreements simply cannot be reached. The most prominent case is the issue of Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT). S&DT was an important topic during the Doha conference, because no obligations were explicitly detailed regarding its implementation in previous WTO agreements.  As a result, the Doha Declaration mandates that the Committee on Trade and Development should review all S&DT  provisions, and decide which should be mandatory. Three deadlines for the negotiations on this topic have already passed, but talks are still at an impasse, with developed and developing countries unable to agree on what constitutes fair conditions and concessions under S&DT.

Other deadlines missed include the March 31 deadline for agreement on modalities pertaining to negotiations on agriculture; the Dec. 31, 2002 deadline to find a solution for LDCs who cannot use the compulsory licensing provision of the TRIPS agreement due to inability to manufacture pharmaceuticals; and the May 31 deadline for agreement on modalities pertaining to Market Access for non-agricultural goods.  

(1) See WTO explanation of Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns
(2) Cafod Analysis of WTO Doha Declarations 

Additional Resources

Negotiations, Implementation and Development: the Doha Agenda
The Doha Declaration
Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns
Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
How the Negotiations are Organized
Cafod Analysis of WTO Doha Declarations