World Trade Organization

Sailing Close to the Wind: Navigating the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial

When the World Trade Organization meets next month in Hong Kong, agriculture negotiations will take center stage. Negotiators are far apart with only a few weeks to find common ground. A new briefing report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) outlines the key agriculture issues facing WTO negotiators.

The New Blue Box: A Step Back for Fair Trade

Excerpted from: Sailing Close to the Wind: Navigating the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial. Analysis of the proposed expansion of the Blue Box within the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture

Food Aid: What Role for the WTO?

Excerpted from Sailing Close to the the Wind: Navigating the Hong Kong Ministerial. The U.S. history of using food aid as a surplus disposal mechanism and vehicle to promote future export sales has drawn the World Trade Organization into the international debate about food aid.

Policy Coherence and Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Lessons for the Doha Round

Excerpted from Sailing Close to the Wind: Navigating the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial. According to a World Trade Organization secretariat note in October 2004, the primary objective of cooperation and policy coherence among the WTO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for the Doha Round negotiations is to expand market access opportunities.

The Impact of GATS on Agriculture

Excerpt from Sailing Close to the Wind: Navigating the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial. Conventional wisdom on the World Trade Organization negotiations has it that there will be a trade-off between concessions made by industrialized countries in agriculture

New Briefing Report on Agriculture and the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial

EU offer in Doha World Trade Talks, October 2005

New EU offer in WTO Doha Round negotiations. The offer comes in response to several proposals from the U.S, G20, G33, G10 and Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group on WTO agriculture negotiations. The proposal makes any agriculture concessions strictly conditional on concessions from WTO members in industrial products, services, geographical indicators and rules.

The United States WTO Agriculture Proposal of October 10, 2005

Excerpt from Sailing Close to the Wind: Navigating the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial. The U.S. proposal for new agriculture trade rules at the World Trade Organization (WTO) would allow a deeply flawed system in agricultural trade to continue, according to a new analysis by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Letter from Commissioner Mandelson to WTO Director General, Pascal Lamy, October 2005

Letter from Commissioner Mandelson to WTO Director General, Pascal Lamy expressing concerns about the lack of progress in the services and industrial product negotiating areas of the negotiations. This is in response to pressure from WTO members on the EC to give concessions in agriculture.

Statement of EU conditional negotiating proposals

Statement by the E.C. at the Zurich mini-Ministerial meeting, 10 October 2005. The statement sets out the EUs proposals for the Doha Round.