Agriculture in the Doha Round
Agriculture is a cornerstone of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations which, since its launch in November 2001, experienced various periods of progress and stalemate.
At the end of the Uruguay Round, WTO Members recognized (in Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture) the long-term objective of substantial progressive reductions in support and protection, resulting in fundamental reform, as an on-going process. They agreed to initiate negotiations to continue the process one year before the end of the implementation period for developed countries (i.e. in 2000).
The Doha Round of WTO negotiations, also called Doha Development Agenda or DDA, were launched in November 2001 in Doha, Qatar, and have since then experienced various periods of progress and stalemate.
Building upon principles and objectives established under the 2001 Doha Declaration, the July 2004 Framework Agreement and the December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, WTO Members have been engaged, in particular in the second half of 2007 and in 2008, in negotiating detailed disciplines (called 'modalities') that would apply to agricultural and non-agricultural goods.
Agreement on these modalities, once reached, would allow WTO Members to prepare their detailed list of commitments, or schedules. The latter would, together with agreed disciplines in other areas of negotiations, such as for example services or intellectual property, constitute the elements for the final agreement concluding the Round. Commitments are then generally expected to be implemented over transitional periods.
Agriculture is a cornerstone of the Doha Round, not least because of the level of developing countries' involvement. Negotiations on agriculture cover three areas or pillars: domestic support (subsidies), market access (import regime, including tariffs), and export competition (export refunds, export credits, food aid and state-trading enterprises).
Since July 2007, successive draft modalities tabled by the Chair of the agricultural negotiations have been the basis of substantive work at Senior Official level, as well as Ministers' consideration in July 2008.
>> The July 2008 package in detail
The fourth revision or 'Rev. 4', tabled in December 2008, reflects the state of play and the high level of convergence reached among Members, while acknowledging a certain number of outstanding issues.
>> The revised draft modalities for agriculture in detail