Overview of The WTO

 Objective of presentation

 WTO: The Beginnings

 Growth in Trade Underway

 A New Multilateral Organization

 The WTO: what is it?

 How does the WTO function?

 Principles of the Trading System

 Provisions for developing countries

 Progressing by packages

 The Round to end all rounds

 The WTO Agreement

 Liberalising trade in goods

 Textiles - back in the mainstream

 Agriculture: fairer markets for all

 Trade remedies

 Standards and procedures

 Administrative procedures

 Services: rules for growth and investment

 Services: the key rules

 Services: Better Access to Markets

 Intellectual Property: protection and enforcement of rights

 TRIPS: what does it cover?

 Settling Disputes: the heart of the system

 Meetings of Ministers

  Singapore Ministerial

 Geneva and Seattle Ministerials

 Doha Ministerial Meeting

 Cancun Ministerial Meeting

 Recent Developments

Cancun Ministerial Meeting

Prior to Cancun

The fifth ministerial meeting took place in Cancun, in Mexico, in September 2003. Since the launching of the Doha Development Agenda, two years earlier there had been intensive negotiations among WTO Members to meet deadlines that were established in the Doha Declaration. In these instances, agreement was supposed to be reached on a variety of important issues prior to the Cancun meeting.

Missed Deadlines

In particular, modalities were to be established for further liberalisation of trade in both industrial and agricultural goods. In discussing these modalities, it quickly became clear to all concerned that agreement on agriculture would not come easily. Despite numerous proposals there was no consensus on how to achieve substantial improvements in market access an eventual phase out of all forms of export subsidies and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support. There were also other important areas where progress was being made. For instance, in Cancun, Members were to report on their negotiations on the relationship between the WTO and the many multilateral environment agreements that contain trade related provisions. At the time of Cancun, the position of Members remained far apart on both this and other matters.

Optimism Prevails

Notwithstanding the challenges facing delegations in Cancun, many remained optimistic. They were encouraged, in particular, by a breakthrough in the days prior to the Cancun meeting. This came in the form of an Agreement on the use of compulsory licensing provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in order to improve the access of impoverished nations to essential medicines. Further, the process of countries acceding to the WTO was progressing, with the accession of Cambodia and Nepal to be announced in Cancun. These are the first least-developed countries to accede to the WTO since its establishment.

No agreement at Cancun

Despite further intensive negotiations among Ministers at Cancun, no agreement could be struck on a number of core issues. In particular, there was no agreement on how to proceed with the Singapore issues, and whether they should be dealt with individually, collectively, or not at all. A further stumbling block related to agreement on the modalities for future negotiations in agriculture. An important development with respect to both these issues was the emergence of twenty-one developing countries from very different parts of the world negotiating from a common position. There was also disappointment on the part of some particularly impoverished developing countries that a more positive result could not be achieved in removing trade-distorting subsidies for products of special export interest to them such as cotton and sugar.