A Development Round of Trade Negotiations

The development focus of the Doha Round emerged from a renewed spirit of responsibility for the challenges faced by poor countries and the perceived inequities generated by previous rounds of trade negotiations. This study presents an alternative way forward for the Doha Round based on principles of social justice and economic analysis. It looks at the trade negotiation agenda from the perspective of first principles, presenting pro-development priorities that should form the core of the Doha Round agreements if there is to be widespread support for the continuing agenda for trade reform and liberalization In the aftermath of the failure of Cancun, there is a need to reassess the direction of global trade negotiations. In Doha the nations of the world agreed to a new round of trade negotiations that would redress some of the imbalances of the past. It was widely felt that previous trade rounds had benefited the advanced industrial countries at the expense of developing countries. There was some basis for developing countries ’ complaints, in terms of both the manner in which trade negotiations had