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Kehoe and Whitten
reductions. 2. Exports subsidies: reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of these. 3.
Domestic support: substantial reductions for supports that distort trade.”
The charge for agricultural discussions, quoted from the Ministerial Declaration of November 14,
2001 (WTO Doha, 2007b), was: “We recognize the work already undertaken in the negotiations
initiated in early 2000 under Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, including the large
number of negotiating proposals submitted on behalf of a total of 121 members. We recall the
long-term objective referred to in the Agreement to establish a fair and market-oriented trading
system through a programme of fundamental reform encompassing strengthened rules and
specific commitments on support and protection in order to correct and prevent restrictions and
distortions in world agricultural markets. We reconfirm our commitment to this programme.
Building on the work carried out to date and without prejudging the outcome of the negotiations
we commit ourselves to comprehensive negotiations aimed at: substantial improvements in
market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and
substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support. We agree that special and differential
treatment for developing countries shall be an integral part of all elements of the negotiations and
shall be embodied in the schedules of concessions and commitments and as appropriate in the
rules and disciplines to be negotiated, so as to be operationally effective and to enable developing
countries to effectively take account of their development needs, including food security and rural
development. We take note of the non-trade concerns reflected in the negotiating proposals
submitted by Members and confirm that non-trade concerns will be taken into account in the
negotiations as provided for in the Agreement on Agriculture.” Put simply, the charge for
agriculture was:
• Phase out all forms of export subsidies on agriculture.
• Achieve reductions in trade-distorting domestic support for agriculture.
• Ensure for differential treatment for developing countries.
THE DOHA COLLAPSE
The collapse of the Doha Development Agenda in July 2006 was a failure of trade negotiations
initiated at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001 and
carried forward to the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Mexico in September 2003
and to Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China in December 2005.
In an article in Foreign Affairs, Bergsten (2005) signaled looming troubles for the Doha
Development Agenda: “Virtually all observers concur that the Doha Round of multilateral trade
negotiations in the World Trade Organization is faltering badly. Agreements may have been
reached on the principle (although not the date) of eliminating export subsidies for agriculture,
but very little have been resolved since the talks were launched four years ago. Almost nothing
has been proposed, let alone settled, in the crucial service sector.”
Two years earlier, The Economist foreshadowed Bergsten’s concerns about Doha (Economist
Article, 2003): “The fault lines in the Doha round are deep. America wants to slash tariffs,
arguing (rightly) that the best way to help poor countries is through more open markets. Since
America's tariffs are already low, that puts the onus on the European Union (EU) to cut farm
tariffs and on big emerging economies to reduce barriers on farm goods and industrial products.
Emerging economies, in contrast, want fewer farm subsidies and lower tariffs in rich countries,
but are loath to reduce their own barriers much. Countries such as India argue that in a pro-poor
Doha round they need do little. The EU chides America both for demanding unrealistically large
tariff cuts from others and for offering too little farm-subsidy reform of its own. In principle, a
compromise was there for the taking. Indeed, Mr. Lamy has informally laid out its contours: more
subsidy cuts than America has offered and more ambitious tariff cuts by the EU and big emerging
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