| Summary
The Doha Development Agenda placed the needs and interests of developing countries at the heart of the current round of trade talks. It aimed to redress existing imbalances in the multilateral trading system which work against their interests. The Round must ensure that liberalisation commitments put 'trade at the service of development.'[1] In practice, this means giving priority to agreements in areas which have the potential to contribute most to poverty reduction.
Progress toward this end has been slow - offers have been tabled late and expectations of what could be achieved at the Hong Kong Ministerial were lowered in advance. The UK Government put Africa at the top of its priorities in 2005 and aimed to improve the trading climate for developing countries through the World Trade Organization. There have been some advances, especially for the Least Developed Countries, but progress has been hindered by an inconsistent approach. The Government has said that developing countries should not be forced to liberalise, and this commitment formed part of the G8 Communiqué in July. But the EU mandate explicitly demands liberalisation of developing country markets as a condition for opening EU agricultural markets further — something it has long promised to do. This is contrary to the idea of a development round.
The EU negotiating mandate seeks to divide developing countries into classifications which the WTO does not recognise. In response, the developing countries created a new coalition — the G110 — in Hong Kong, continuing the tradition of coalition-building among developing countries which began in Cancún.
The agreement to continue negotiations, despite limited outcomes, represents a major victory for the principle of multilateralism, which serves smaller, less powerful states better than the alternatives. However, much remains to be done in order to complete the development round.
- The EU needs to improve its offer in agriculture. Greater market access is the key to unlocking the round for developing countries. The EU must also reduce its proposed use of sensitive products so that it does not negate the benefits of market opening in areas where developing countries have a comparative advantage.
- The EU offer should not be made dependent on the actions of developing countries.
- The formula for reduction of non-agricultural market access must allow developing countries to protect, as necessary, and for limited periods, their emergent industrial sectors.
The meeting in Hong Kong rejected the attempt by the EU to impose a mandatory system of benchmarking in services. This is a good result. Developing countries must be allowed to decide the pace and sequence of liberalisation in services. To this end, the services negotiations are not timed to allow for sufficient analysis of the implications of new agreements for developing countries. This is a disappointing outcome.
The criteria for special and differential treatment, and its use, requires urgent attention otherwise smaller, low income, developing countries will suffer relative to larger developing countries. Commitments on aid for trade are welcome, but these should be in a separate category from the general aid budget. If developing countries lose as a result of trade liberalisation agreements, they must be compensated appropriately and unconditionally.
In the current Round, WTO members have delayed declaring their positions until the last moment. This makes negotiations difficult; there is insufficient time to assess the implications of an offer, especially by developing countries with limited capacities. In making new offers, there is good reason for the European Commission to make the first move since, in the WTO, 'nothing is agreed until everything is agreed'.
We support an ambitious outcome for this Round. We share the UK Government's commitment to 'kicking open the door' for developing countries so that the poor can trade their way out of poverty. The Government must put in place a strategy to ensure the EU is not the cause of failure in the development round.
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