The WTO in 2003 : structural shifts, state-of-play and prospects for the Doha round

Abstract

Much has changed in the transition from the GATT to the WTO. Three worrying trends stand out: 1) standards harmonisation and regulatory overload; 2) excessive the diplomatic and negotiating mechanism that worked well in the GATT. The focus of efforts must be the Doha Round.

The new round has a large, messy agenda. The market access negotiations (on agriculture, services and industrial goods) have been held up due to the EU's unwillingness to undertake serious agricultural liberalisation. The rules negotiations (on anti-dumping procedures, countervailing measures, subsidies, regional trade agreements,and dispute settlement) may well suffer from neglect. Negotiations on developing country issues (implementation, Special and Differential Treatment, and trade-related intellectual property right), have missed key deadlines, Work programmes and negotiations on new issues (the four Singapore issues - investment, competition, trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement - and trade-and-environment) have hardly moved at all.