Doha: the lift-off?

The World Trade Organisation's (WTO) ministers are due to meet in Hong Kong in December to try to clinch a final agreement on a new world trade regime. In view of this meeting, a preparatory meeting was held in Geneva last week. What is at stake?

The current round of WTO negotiations - in which the EU is one of the main protagonists - began in 2001 at the fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar.

The conference resulted in some far-reaching decisions on the future development of the WTO, namely to launch a new round of trade negotiations - the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) - comprising both further trade liberalisation and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantially assistance to developing countries; to help developing countries implement the existing WTO agreements; and to interpret the TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement in a manner that ensures members' rights under TRIPS to take actions to protect public health.

The last point is crucial for developing countries because it facilitates their access to cheaper medicines to combat the many curable ailments crushing millions in the developing world.

The Doha Development Agenda is meant to improve conditions for worldwide trade and investment. It also seeks to enhance rules, which would encourage economic growth, employment and poverty reduction.

It seeks to strengthen international governance and the promotion of sustainable development. The EU wants to achieve all the aims of the Doha agenda.

Crucial to a successful outcome is the fate of world agricultural trade. The EU, the United States and Japan all heavily subsidise agriculture, which distorts world food prices and creates barriers for developing countries to exporting more of their commodities.

However, in some instances, liberalisation of world trade may also lead to some producers losing their traditional markets.

The EU is ready to compromise on agriculture and this summer it made a number of proposals, which led to what is called the July Agreement - which was actually signed on August 1 - and which unblocked the stalemate.

Reversals in WTO negotiations are common - even in the so-called Doha Round. A ministerial conference in Cancun had ended in chaos. There is no guarantee that ministers will come out smiling from the Hong Kong meeting.

The EU, while being prepared to compromise on agriculture, has meanwhile made it clear that this is not the only solution it is looking for. Before leaving for the Geneva talks last week, the EU Commissioner in charge of external trade, Peter Mandelson, stated:

"My task in Geneva is to reassure WTO partners that the EU remains firmly committed to this negotiation, but also to warn them of the consequences of treating Doha like a single-engine agriculture round. The EU will show some further flexibility, indicating how we want to move forward on agriculture.

"But I must say honestly to my colleagues: Europe urgently needs to start seeing more clearly the benefits the Doha Round will offer in trade in industrial goods and services.

"Without balance it will become increasingly difficult to convince EU member states that the process is delivering. So our meetings this week must contain realism and broader ambition beyond agricultural issues if we are to move forward."