Explain the Purpose Behind the Wto’s Doha Round of Trade Negotiations. Why Has This Round Proved so Difficult to Conclude? What Are the Likely Consequences for the World Economy If the Doha Round Fails?
Explain the purpose behind the WTO’s Doha round of trade negotiations. Why has this round proved so difficult to conclude? What are the likely consequences for the world economy if the Doha round fails?
The World Trade Organization has proven to be the top most successful joint trade institution of the 20th century. In spite of the lack of a central authority, the WTO has sustained trade assistance for the better half of the last five decades. Over which time the influence of the association has increased both in terms of developed and underdeveloped country membership, as well as achieving significant expansion and scope of its original mandate, but not without its problems. Yet despite numerous setbacks the WTO remains an important facilitator of world trade. What other World institution has the ability to settle international trade disputes (for panel and appellate bodies), within a suggested 16 months, (Hohmann, 2008).
The WTO’s Uruguay Round proved to be an historical landmark in the expansion of the international trading structure, as it included development of both textiles and agriculture previously overlooked and left isolated by the GATT ( Hoekman and Mavroidis, 2007), as well as the addition of several new disciplines including, but not limited to intellectual property protection and trade in services. Towards the end of the 1990s global trading institutions remained optimistic that the WTO would broaden its policies to include both trade and investment. Unfortunately these initial efforts were thwarted in Seattle in 1999.
The Doha round, initially set out to be the primary key trade negotiation of the revised WTO (operational January 1st, 1995 as established by the GATT Uruguay Round) has to date has had to traverse an exceptionally complex set of issues. The Doha Rounds primary focus, commonly referred to as ῾DDA’- or the Doha Development Agenda , in their Doha Declaration, according to Hohmann, aimed to address multiple trade issues (e.g.
The World Trade Organization has proven to be the top most successful joint trade institution of the 20th century. In spite of the lack of a central authority, the WTO has sustained trade assistance for the better half of the last five decades. Over which time the influence of the association has increased both in terms of developed and underdeveloped country membership, as well as achieving significant expansion and scope of its original mandate, but not without its problems. Yet despite numerous setbacks the WTO remains an important facilitator of world trade. What other World institution has the ability to settle international trade disputes (for panel and appellate bodies), within a suggested 16 months, (Hohmann, 2008).
The WTO’s Uruguay Round proved to be an historical landmark in the expansion of the international trading structure, as it included development of both textiles and agriculture previously overlooked and left isolated by the GATT ( Hoekman and Mavroidis, 2007), as well as the addition of several new disciplines including, but not limited to intellectual property protection and trade in services. Towards the end of the 1990s global trading institutions remained optimistic that the WTO would broaden its policies to include both trade and investment. Unfortunately these initial efforts were thwarted in Seattle in 1999.
The Doha round, initially set out to be the primary key trade negotiation of the revised WTO (operational January 1st, 1995 as established by the GATT Uruguay Round) has to date has had to traverse an exceptionally complex set of issues. The Doha Rounds primary focus, commonly referred to as ῾DDA’- or the Doha Development Agenda , in their Doha Declaration, according to Hohmann, aimed to address multiple trade issues (e.g.
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