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World Trade Organization: Members
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At the 4th Ministerial in Doha last November, WTO Members launched new multilateral trade negotiations. While the agriculture negotiations have been progressing for the past two years, the launch of a broad agenda has added considerable impetus to the agriculture negotiations. For agriculture, the Doha Declaration calls for substantial improvements in market access, the reduction of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies, and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support. WTO Members ... agreed that new reduction commitments (modalities) in the areas of market access, domestic support, and export competition are to be established by March 31, 2003.
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Officially, the WTO describes itself as a "democratic" organization which seeks "to improve the welfare of the peoples of the member countries" through trade liberalization. However, civil society and many governments from developing countries consider it to be "one of the least transparent organizations", which excludes less developed countries from its negotiations and favours the interests of wealthy countries.
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Member and observer nations account for more than 97 percent of world trade. Vietnam became a WTO member in January 2007, and the Pacific island nation of Tonga joined in July 2007, bringing the total membership to 151.
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The WTO promotes economic globalization and free trade, which some consider problematic. WTO treaties have been accused of a partial and unfair bias toward multinational corporations and wealthy nations. While membership is voluntary, not joining practically places the non-participating nation under embargo. The WTO therefore creates an international system of forced economic rules which are perceived by some as discouraging change and experimentation.
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The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of accession are dependent upon the country's stage of economic development and current trade regime. The process takes about five years, on average, but it can last more if the country is less than fully committed to the process or if political issues interfere. As is typical of WTO procedures, an offer of accession is only given once consensus is reached among interested parties.
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This paper analyzes possible approaches for ensuring a balance in trade gains in the ongoing WTO negotiations on environmental goods. It begins with a realistic assessment of the negotiations under Para 31(iii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and touches upon the progress made in the negotiations so far vis-à-vis different Members' positions. It suggests that a combination of Special and Differential Treatment provisions and bringing environmentally preferable products of export interest to developing countries in the ambit of environmental goods, could offer a balanced deal to the developing countries.
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