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A new negotiating dynamic at Doha

At November's World Trade Organisation meeting in Doha, Qatar, developing countries played a decisive role in achieving consensus for new trade negotiations, says Alan Larson, under secretary of state for economic, business, and agricultural affairs.

Developing countries should benefit from the WTO work programme ahead, especially in opening agricultural markets, maintaining protection for intellectual property while enabling access to drugs for public health emergencies, and promoting capacity building, he says.

WTO members should assist developing countries to participate in the WTO and the broader global economy, Larson says.

The World Trade Organisation Ministerial in Doha witnessed a major shift in the negotiating dynamic of the WTO and in how the organisation conducts its business. Both developments will have a profound impact on how the United States pursues its international economic interests in this important forum.

First, developing countries created a new negotiating dynamic at the ministerial by demanding and playing an important role in shaping its outcome.

Second, the decision to launch a new round of global trade talks -- the Doha Development Agenda -- represented a tangible example of the success that can be achieved through activist American diplomacy.

Before and during the ministerial, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick did an outstanding job of building bridges to all WTO members. He personally engaged with developing countries and worked with them to address issues of concern and to build consensus for a new round.

Secretary of Agriculture Veneman, Commerce Under Secretary Aldonas, and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Huntsman joined our State Department team in reaching out to developing countries.

For their part, developing country trade ministers played vital leadership roles on issues critical to the success of the ministerial.

Mexican Minister Derbez Bautista, for example, led the working group that addressed issues involving the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

South African Minister Erwin chaired the working group that focused on WTO rules issues. Singapore's Minister Yeo led the working group on agriculture. Chilean Vice Minister Munoz Valenzuela headed the working group addressing environmental issues. Ministers Bello of Nigeria, Biwott of Kenya, and Simba of Tanzania represented the Organisation of African Unity, the African-Caribbean-Pacific Group, and the least-developed countries, respectively.

All of these developing country representatives worked closely with us and other developed countries to find ways forward on many of the most difficult issues. Without their active participation, it is unlikely that the ministerial could have succeeded.

At the final session, Ministers Bello, Biwott, and Simba expressed satisfaction with both the process and outcome of the ministerial.

Minister Simba coined the name Doha Development Agenda, and Minister Bello specifically praised Ambassador Zoellick for his efforts to consult with, and take into account, the views of developing countries.

Officials from many developing countries, including India, South Africa, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Kuwait, later publicly praised the outcome at Doha.

How Do Developing Countries Benefit from Trade?

According to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, trade is the single most important channel affecting growth for developing countries.

The World Bank estimated that increasing poor countries' access to world export markets could generate an additional $1.5 trillion in income over 10 years and raise their annual gross domestic product growth rates by 0.5 percent.

Trade liberalisation can also support growth-oriented economic reforms and aid the transfer of technology and expertise.

Developing countries will benefit significantly from the work programme agreed to at Doha, especially in the areas of agriculture, TRIPS/public health, and capacity building.

Agriculture.

Negotiating reforms to liberalise agricultural trade was a top priority for many developing countries. Singapore's Minister Yeo worked hard to forge a compromise that broke the logjam between the European Union (EU) and agricultural exporters.

The ministerial declaration states that WTO members will negotiate reductions of export subsidies "with a view to phasing them out."

It commits members to making substantial improvements in market access and in reducing trade-distorting domestic supports.

Leveling the playing field will increase opportunities for farmers in developing countries to compete more effectively with developed countries in both domestic and export markets.

Trade liberalisation can also help raise agricultural productivity and farm incomes, create employment, and reduce rural poverty in developing countries.

TRIPS/access to medicines

The public health debate was another critical issue for the developing countries. The working group was led by Mexican Minister Derbez, who worked with US, EU, Indian, Brazilian, and African representatives to reach breakthrough early in the ministerial.

The final declaration on TRIPS is a strong political statement that reaffirms the commitment of all WTO members to the TRIPS Agreement.

It makes clear that TRIPS is consistent with the public health objectives of WTO members and gives developing members the confidence that TRIPS affords them the flexibility to address health care crises. Finally, the declaration reaffirms the importance of intellectual property protection and the important role it plays in the development of new medicines.

Ministers also agreed to a US proposal to extend until January 1, 2016, the deadline by which least-developed WTO members must implement their TRIPS obligations.

The United States believes the enormity of the challenge posed by HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis, requires the mobilisation of the resources of the entire international community.

The United States and other countries will establish the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in January 2002 to address prevention, care, and treatment of these diseases, and the development of health care infrastructure and delivery systems.

President George Bush has pledged $200 million to the Global Fund as start-up money. We are actively engaged in leveraging both public and private resources to commit further resources to the fund.

Capacity-building assistance

The ministerial declaration recognises the special needs and interests of developing countries. It provides for technical assistance to build trade capacity, both during negotiations and in implementation of agreements.

The United States has provided over $1.3 billion in trade capacity assistance through various bilateral and multilateral channels to developing countries over the past three years.

We have contributed $1.65 million to the WTO's trust funds for technical assistance. Building capacity in developing countries is a foreign policy priority, and the United States will continue to lead in this international effort.

Environment, trade and environmental objectives can, and must, be complementary. However, many developing countries and agricultural exporters fear "green protectionism" and the so-called precautionary principle advanced by the European Union.

Under the leadership of Chilean Vice Minister Munoz Valenzuela, and with strong behind-the-scenes support from the United States, ministers agreed to a solid environmental agenda that avoided these risks.

Ministers agreed to negotiations on fish subsidies and market access for environmental goods and services. They also agreed to negotiations on the relationship between the specific trade obligations set out in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and existing WTO rules.

WTO members focused the MEA talks by mandating that their scope be limited to the applicability of existing WTO rules among parties and instructed that they not prejudice the WTO rights of any member that is not a party to the MEA in question.

Ministers agreed to take into account the needs of developing countries while maintaining the open and nondiscriminatory nature of the multilateral trading system.

Other issues

In the group discussing WTO Rules chaired by South African Minister Erwin, developing countries were among those that insisted that clarification of WTO agreements on dispute settlement and antidumping be included in the upcoming negotiations.

Developing countries agreed with the United States on the need to also address in the negotiations the issues of transparency and due process in members' antidumping investigation procedures and the underlying causes of unfair trade.

WTO committees will give implementation issues, including subsidies and textiles, high priority in their work programmes.

Developing countries also asserted that they currently lack the capacity to negotiate new obligations in the areas of investment, competition, trade facilitation, and transparency in government procurement.

Therefore, WTO members remanded these issues to WTO committees for further discussion. Advocates of investment negotiations must work with developing countries to enhance their capacity so that countries become comfortable with measures needed to develop an investment policy framework that attracts inflows of foreign direct investment.

Developing countries should remember that having a good investment policy framework provides its own reward by attracting the technology, capital, and expertise needed for development.

Conclusion

The WTO Ministerial in Doha showed a new dynamic in trade negotiations as developing countries played an active and constructive role in forging a consensus to launch the Doha Development Agenda.

The negotiations have the potential to improve growth and development for all WTO members. In order to continue progress in global trade liberalisation, we must be prepared to respond to the critical needs of our developing country trading partners.

To achieve this, we will have to continue capacity-building efforts to help developing countries increase their ability to participate fully not only in the WTO, but also in the global economy.
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