The Hong Kong Ministerial meeting marks a critical moment in the ongoing Doha Development Round of trade negotiations. It represents an opportunity for developed nations to exercise moral leadership in changing global trade rules to benefit developing countries and people living in poverty.

Developed nations made public commitments in 2001 at the start of a new round of WTO negotiations in Doha. They promised that the goal of this round of trade talks would be rules that promote growth and poverty reduction in the developing nations (hence the reference to "The Doha Development Round"). Developed nations need to keep those commitments, particularly as regards to:

• Opening up developed country agricultural markets and eliminating subsidies that cause overproduction and commodity dumping by developed countries.
• Enabling developing countries to retain the power to decide their own trade policies in light of their development strategies and policies.
• Ensuring a transparent and democratic negotiating process.
• Offering meaningful "aid for trade" that benefits and doesn't undermine small-holder farmers and the common good.

Developed countries are not upholding their promises to put the interests of developing countries first, acting instead on their own narrow self-interest.

In order to maximize the impact on global poverty and make trade work for people living in poverty, we have to make progress on all these fronts.

In the four years since the launch of the Doha negotiations, the development focus has gotten lost. Developed countries are not upholding their promises to put the interests of developing countries first, acting instead on their own narrow self-interest. We call upon developed nations, and the U.S. government in particular, to change its position and embrace an authentic development agenda. To begin, we call upon the U.S. government to adopt the positions we outline below:

Agriculture - Market Access and Dumping

Ask:
The Doha Round must give developing country farmers a greater opportunity to sell their products internationally and domestically. This will require wealthy nations to work together to create a credible timetable to eliminate agricultural supports and subsidies that hurt farmers in developing countries. Many developed country agricultural supports and subsidies are harmful to small farmers in developing nations because they encourage overproduction of crops, which are then exported below-cost on global markets; this is called "dumping". Developed countries must also open their markets by eliminating trade barriers to agricultural products from developing countries.

Background:
By lowering commodity prices below the cost of production ("dumping"), these subsidies are creating unfair competition. This translates into developing nation farmers being unable to compete in international markets and even in their own local markets. It is critical to link this "ask" with that of the "power to decide" because unless developing countries have the right and ability to define and defend their own agricultural policies, which includes shielding those that could be harmed by changes in agricultural trade policies, they will not be able to ensure food security/sovereignty and the well-being of their rural sector.

The Power to Decide

The principle of non-reciprocity between developed and developing nations should be embodied in the Doha Round.

Ask:
Developing nations should have the flexibility to determine their own trade policies in accordance with their development strategies. In particular, they should have the ability to use meaningful Special and Differential Treatment, the establishment of special products and special safeguards to accomplish their development goals.

Background:
In trade negotiations, rich countries have insisted upon and expected poor countries to make reciprocal commitments to lower trade barriers. However, because developing countries have so many more poor people, it is critical that they be permitted special tools and mechanisms to protect vulnerable populations and promote poverty reduction strategies. The principle of non-reciprocity between developed and developing nations should be embodied in the Doha Round.

Process

Ask:
Ensure that all WTO trade negotiations are conducted in a transparent and democratic manner (as promised in the Doha Ministerial Declaration). Current practices are neither. All developing country governments must have the right and ability to participate directly in all formal and informal negotiations. Civil society organizations must have the right and ability to provide meaningful input into national government positions as well as to monitor the negotiations at the national and international level.

"Aid for Trade" or Trade Capacity Building

Ask:
More funds for trade capacity building programs must be made available beyond what is currently promised. Additional amounts must not be taken from (i.e. compete with) existing aid funding. Moreover, all current and future aid for trade programs must be transformed such that they are:

1. Country-driven, involving local civil society in determining priorities.
2. Focused on meeting the needs of smallholder farmers and other people struggling to overcome poverty.
3. Used to promote development of local, regional and international markets.
4. Provided without conditions demanding that recipient nations implement economic policy changes, which have proven harmful to people in poverty and the environment.
5. Not tied to the purchase of US products and/or required to employ US businesses or contractors in the use of aid funds, which wastes much aid.
6. Include support to prevent where possible, and mitigate if necessary, negative consequences of changes in trade policies on food insecure and vulnerable populations.

We must be prepared from the onset to provide trade assistance that helps those populations that fare less well to overcome any negative impact so that they can also enjoy the benefits of a more fair trading system.

Background:
Additional "aid" to promote trade (i.e. trade capacity building, trade facilitation, and infrastructure construction) was promised in Doha in recognition that countries needed technical assistance, infrastructure, and other forms of financial assistance if they were to truly benefit from the Doha Round. Just because trade rules change does not automatically translate into an increase in exports or a reduction in poverty. Moreover, we have a responsibility to take a realistic and balanced perspective and recognize that there will be winners and losers from changes in trade policies. We must be prepared from the onset to provide trade assistance that helps those populations that fare less well to overcome any negative impact so that they can also enjoy the benefits of a more fair trading system.

Wealthy nations have not lived up to their commitments in terms of both the quantity and quality of aid for trade. Notably, aid for trade has not been targeted to meet the economic development needs of people living in poverty, and rural communities in particular. As with all aid, the manner in which aid for trade is delivered greatly determines the impact.




Reprinted with permission from The One Campaign.

To read another Global Envision article about the World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong, see Is Market Access the Answer to Poverty?.



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