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Non-trade standards

Development package at the WTO?: what do developing countries want from the Doha round?

The developmental interests of the developing countries in the WTO

Authors: S. Page; M. Cali; D.W te Velde; Christian Aid
Publisher: Overseas Development Institute, London, 2008

Full text of document

This paper aims to summarise the interests of different developing country groups in each of the most important negotiating issues at the current stage of the negotiations. It provides a snapshot of the current constraints to the completion of a round which would need to be overcome. The paper firstly reviews the main developing country groups:

  • the least developed countries (LDCs) are a group with special status within the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Their priority interests are mainly in special areas and in non-trade issues
  • the small and vulnerable economies (SVEs) have acquitted a limited special status
  • the group of 33 developing countries (G33) takes a defensive position on liberalisation in all areas
  • the group of 20 developing countries (G20) and the non-agriculture market access negotiating group (NAMA 11) tend to have clearer positions. The G20 ambitions are related to the openness of agricultural markets. While NAMA 11 is designed more to limit the access which developing countries (DCs) have to offer for non-manufactures
The paper deals with DCs' interests directly identified as "developmental", focusing on the duty free quota free (DFQF) and the cotton issue. It mentions that cotton has become a symbol of the distortions imposed by the developed countries, which penalise the very poor countries. Then it points out the central negotiations' topics:
  • agricultural subsidies by developed countries
  • access for agriculture to developed country markets
  • special products
  • special safeguard mechanism
  • food aid
  • access for non-agricultural products to developed country markets
  • developing country tariffs on NAMA
Moreover, the paper highlights some other issues important to some DCs. It indicates the preference erosion as a major interest for the LDCs and SVEs, but as a major area of disagreement with the G20. It also tackles the issue of sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) barriers and technical barriers to trade (TBT). The paper notes that all groups of DCs mention the obstacle posed by the SPS and TBT, with both the difficulty of meeting some standards and the fact that they are changed at short notice causing problems. In addition, the paper presents briefly the following issues:
  • services market access
  • trade facilitation
  • aid for trade
  • rules on anti-dumping
  • rules on regions
  • special arrangements for commodities
  • biodiversity convention
In conclusion, the insistence that agriculture be settled before other issues reduces the likelihood of an early settlement on development issues. It is still not clear either that all DCs want to make the necessary compromises, or that developed countries would be willing to accept the minimum requirements of DCs. The discussion of interests here confirms that there are no leading countries among the DCs who can speak for all.