Will Doha, like Dracula, Come Back from the Dead?
By Walden Bello and Mary Lou Malig
This article presents an overview of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiation rounds, posting a question on whether the most recent “mini-ministerial” gathering in Geneva could mean the final collapse of the Doha Round of trade negotiations.
From the Uruguay Round to the current Doha Round, WTO negotiation rounds have been failing to address the interest of developing countries in favour of developed countries. Developing countries had come to the realization that they had bargained away significant space for development and thus they are in no mood to agree in more concessions to liberalize global trade, as the big trading powers demanded. While the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) have not showed willingness to give more than minor concessions on agricultural subsidies, different alliances have been formed by Developing countries (G20, G33 and G90) to resist pressures to open up their industrial sectors and services.
In this sense, the authors stress that the “Doha Development Round,” seems to have little to do with development and everything to do with expanding developed country access to developing country markets.
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