According to the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), a new round of negotiations is currently going on at the World Trade Organization (WTO). This includes negotiations on agriculture, services, implementation related issues and the so called 'Singapore Issues'. We present a set of papers which analyzes some of these issues from the perspective of developing countries.

• The Peace Clause in WTO's Agriculture Agreement
  Bhagirath Lal Das
  The 'Due Restraint' Clause or the 'Peace Clause' of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture provides a great degree of immunity to the subsidizers of agricultural goods from any countervailing actions. The Peace Clause is set to expire by the end of 2003 but most developed countries wants it to continue. In this context, this paper analyses the implications of the 'Peace Clause'.
   
• Review of the EU Think-Piece on the Cancun Ministerial
  Parthapratim Pal
  The European Commission has recently circulated a think-piece on the failure of the Cancun Ministerial Conference of WTO. In this early reaction paper the Director General, European Commission, has described what went wrong in Cancun and put forward some ideas about the future course of action at the WTO. This review finds that the EC think does not give an unbiased view about the true reasons behind the failure of the Cancun Ministerial.
   
• The GATS Negotiations: Some Issues for Consideration
  Smitha Francis
  With the 'request-offer' process in the GATS negotiations underway, developing countries face intense pressure for progressive liberalisation. This paper argues that since the so-called regulatory flexibility offered by the GATS to developing countries could turn out to be mostly illusory, they should adopt the most gradual approach possible when it comes to the offers to be made and guard against trade-offs in social sectors. It also highlights the crucial implications of the parallel processes of liberalization taking place under various programmes of the international institutions as well as through free trade agreements.
   
• Does The New WTO Drugs Deal Really Benefit Developing Countries?
  C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
  The recent eleventh hour agreement on TRIPs and public health concerns of poor countries has been hailed by some as a major breakthrough, while others argue that the resolution is purely cosmetic. This paper analyzes this latest agreement in the background of the previous experience and debate. It concludes that it does not provide much relief either to poor countries that may need to import drugs or to generic manufacturers of drugs in developing countries.
   
• Cancun crossroads for the WTO
  Jayati Ghosh
  The Cancun meeting of the WTO takes place at a time when the legitimacy of the institution is under question more than ever before. . The biggest success of the people of the world could be, ironically, the failure of the meeting at Cancun.
    
  
• Multilateral Competition Policy and Economic Development: A Developing Country Perspective on the European Community Proposals
  Ajit Singh
  The 'Singapore Issues' which include competition policy, investment, government procurement and trade facilitation are going to be at the centre of discussion in the forthcoming Cancun Ministerial of WTO.This paper examines the merits and demerits of multilateral competition policy proposed by the European Union and examines whether it will be conducive to economic development in emerging countries.
   
  
• Transparency in Government Procurement
  B Bhattacharyya.
  The WTO Ministerial Conference at Singapore gave a mandate to study the inclusion of 'Transparency in Government Procurement Practices' in the WTO agreement. This paper discusses the implications of possible inclusion of Government Procurement policies in the WTO agreement for developing countries.
   
• Elements for a New Paradigm on Special and Differential Treatment : Special and Differential Treatment, The Multilateral Trading System and Economic Development in the 21st Century
  Ajit Singh
  The Special and Differential Treatment refers to GATT rights and privileges given to developing countries but not extended to developed countries. In GATT/WTO rounds S&D was offered as a response to perceived special problems posed by the new disciplines for developing countries. This paper explores the evolution of the S&D principle and evaluates whether the present S&D system has helped economic development in poorer WTO Member countries.
     
• Comment on The EC - US Joint Paper on Agriculture in WTO (PDF Document)
  Martin Khor
  (Size: 91.6 Kb App. Download Time: 02 min @ 28kbps)
    
• WTO Annual Report 2003 Shows that Distortions in Global Trade Continue
  Parthapratim Pal

Some Important Documents for The Cancun Ministerial (PDF Documents)

1. Draft of The Cancun Ministerial Text
   (Size: 125 Kb App. Download Time: 02 min @ 28kbps)
    
2. Revised Draft of The Cancun Ministerial Text
   (Size: 213 Kb App. Download Time: 04 min @ 28kbps)
    
3. Joint EC-US Text on Agriculture
   (Size: 99.6 Kb App. Download Time: 02 min @ 28kbps)
    
4. Like-minded Group Joint Text on Agriculture
   (Size: 99.5 Kb App. Download Time: 02 min @ 28kbps)
    
5. Joint text on Agriculture by Brazil, China, India and Others.
   (Size: 86.6 Kb App. Download Time: 02 min @ 28kbps)