The Doha Round and The WTO Cancun Ministerial Conference
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Case Code: ECOA122 Case Length: 27 Pages Period: 2004 Pub Date: 2004 Teaching Note: Not Available |
Price: Rs.300 Organization : - Industry : - Countries : Global, Doha, Qatar Themes: - |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Excerpts
Excerpts
Background Note
The GATT
It was in 1946-47 that talks on the creation of an International Trade Organization (ITO) alongside the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank began. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was signed by 23 countries in end-October 1947, bringing the trade provisions of the proposed ITO into effect on January 1, 1948...
The WTO
In 1993, the Uruguay Round participants agreed to replace GATT with a more powerful trade body, The World Trade Organization (WTO). WTO was established on January 1, 1995...
Seattle Ministerial Conference, 1999
As WTO negotiations progressed, differences between the developed and the developing countries intensified with regard to what came to be known as the 'implementation' issue. They covered a range of questions arising from the wide perception in the developing world:
• That the Uruguay Round and its agreements enshrined in the WTO were asymmetric, imbalanced and iniquitous to the developing countries...
The Cancun Ministerial Conference
As the next ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico approached, hopes were again raised. An analysis by the World Bank, published on September 3rd 2003, suggested that an ambitious, though achievable, reduction of trade barriers in the Doha round could boost global income by between $290 billion and $520 billion a year. Well over half of these gains would go to poor countries. By 2015, the World Bank reckoned, a successful Doha round could lift 144 million people out of poverty...
The Collapse of the Talks
Even as various contentious issues emerged, the draft text that emerged halfway through the Cancún meeting was a huge disappointment. The promises on cotton were vague, pledging a WTO review of the textiles sector, but with no mention of eliminating subsidies or of compensation. Worse, there was even a suggestion that the West African countries should be encouraged to diversify out of cotton. The rich world's concessions in agriculture were also too timid and too grudging. America's bold promises were belied by its actions...
The Road Ahead
Many economists and intellectuals worried that if the deadlock over different issues, especially agricultural subsidies continued, WTO would lose its momentum. The consequences for the organization itself would be grave. There would be little political impetus to make it more effective...
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Members of the Cairns Group
Exhibit II: WTO Members as on April 4, 2003
Exhibit III: Observer Governments
Exhibit IV: International Organizations Observers to General Council
Exhibit V: World Exports of Merchandise and Commercial Services
Exhibit VI: Growth in the Value of Merchandise Trade by Region
Exhibit VII: Leading Exporters and Importers in World Merchandise Trade, 2002
Exhibit VIII: Price Effects of Trade Restrictions, Selected Industries and Countries
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