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Doha Development Agenda

Related pages: International Trade Department | Trade Matters | Millennium Development Goal 8 - Aid, Trade, Growth and Global Partnership

What does the Doha Round consist of?

The Doha talks began in 2001 and represent for the first time a round of trade talks that aim to put developing country concerns at the heart of negotiations. Although developed countries also stand to benefit, a successful round has the potential to deliver huge welfare gains to developing countries. We believe that developing countries will be the biggest losers if the multilateral trading system is weakened and they are left to negotiate bilateral and regional agreements.

There are different strands to the negotiation; the main ones are: agriculture, industrial goods and services. Across all of these we want to see increased market access for developing countries’ products through significant cuts in tariffs and subsidies. We also want to see market opening in services in sectors of interest to developing countries. Some decisions were made at the last full Ministerial meeting of the WTO in Hong Kong (December 2005) but as the WTO operates on the basis of a ’single undertaking policy’ (nothing is agreed until everything is agreed), these decisions are contingent on a final deal across all dossiers.

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The Development Package

The UK Government’s view is that the greatest gains for developing countries from a successful Doha Development Agenda (DDA) will come from more open markets, particularly in areas where developing countries have a comparative advantage (such as agriculture, clothing and textiles).

However, we acknowledge that developing countries need to design and pace trade reform packages in a way that is appropriate for their particular circumstances, and that in the short term some developing countries may need help to take advantage of new trading opportunities created by the DDA.

For this reason the UK Government has promoted a Development Package for the DDA. This includes special and differential treatment for developing countries, such as special products which would be subject to protection due to their particular importance for food security and rural livelihoods, and a Special Safeguard Mechanism to temporarily protect sectors affected by surges in import volumes. It also calls for 100% Duty Free and Quota Free Market Access for products from the least developed countries (LDCs), with simple and transparent rules of origin that facilitate the use of preferences, as well as more ambitious reductions in developed countries’ domestic support for cotton than for other products (due to its importance to safeguard the livelihoods of West African cotton producers), and developmentally beneficial food aid practices to ensure food aid does not distort local markets in developing countries and is in line with development objectives.

The DDA talks have now been resumed and the UK, together with our developing country partners, continues to lobby for progress in all of the above priority areas.


Last updated: 03 April 2007