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World Trade Organization: Developing Countries
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Developing countries, and especially Least Developed Countries, were promised a World Trade Organisation (WTO) 'Development Round' at Doha in 2001, but Sub-Saharan African countries have gained little so far, seeing the discussions as irrelevant to them. This paper explores the reasons for this and argues that, if the Round is revived, Africa could benefit from the Round through a more aggressive stance on preferences. February 2007 (pdf version).
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The Doha round was to be an ambitious effort to make globalisation more inclusive and help the world's poor, particularly by slashing barriers and subsidies in farming. The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries.
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Regarding transparency in the functioning of WTO, US and EU were keen for some kind of mechanism whereby civil society could participate in the WTO functioning, inter alia, through amicus curiae briefs in the trade dispute settlement mechanism. But this was sharply opposed by India and many other developing countries.
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In practice... the US, Japan, and the advanced nations of Europe tend to control the agenda and overpower developing nations with skilled trade experts and superior negotiating tactics. While Brazil and China have cultivated expertise of their own, many other developing countries are too poor to afford effective representation at the WTO.—Patrick Smith, Special to The Christian Science Monitor, September 2003.
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