A nother attempt to revive the Doha Round of international trade negotiations has failed. Unable to find common ground on agricultural issues, some 60 trade ministers -- less than half the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- cut short efforts recently to break the deadlock in Geneva. Before departing, however, they entrusted Mr. Pascal Lamy, director general of the WTO, with the task of finding a way to break the stalemate. Although the differences appear intractable and time is running short, Mr. Lamy believes a deal is possible.
The Doha Round began five years ago. From the outset, participants agreed this would be a "development round" that would focus on issues of chief concern to developing countries. This was necessary because of growing anger among those countries that previous talks had disproportionately benefited developed nations. In practical terms, this meant negotiations would focus on agriculture, the primary source of income for developing nations, and would target the quotas, tariffs and subsidies that shield farmers in the developed world from competition.
There were no illusions about the difficulties posed by the focus on agriculture. The issue had been downgraded in previous negotiations precisely because of the power of domestic agricultural lobbies in developed countries. Sadly, the rhetorical commitment to developing country concerns was easier to make than to honor. The difficulty in bridging the gap between developed and developing countries has been exacerbated by divisions among developed countries themselves over the appropriate scope of protection and aid for their farmers. The result has been deadlock and the collapse of the meeting in Geneva.