World Trade Organization

The Doha round began in 2001. The protracted negotiations receive such name in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to liberalize world trade for the benefit of impoverished countries, according to what was said at the beginning. Fair and free trade that could raise about 100 billion dollars a year, according to the WTO. In the last phase, 35 countries have discussed during nine days to agree on cuts of acceptable agricultural subsidies by rich countries and the allowable import tariffs. After seven years of negotiations, the result is a failure. The main reasons of disagreement have been how much should be trimmed its United States and the European Union (EU) agricultural subsidies, and far we must liberalize commercial banking. According to correspondents of the BBC in Geneva, the most controversial issue was the discussion on the mechanism of safeguarding proposed to India and China, the United States opposed. This mechanism would have meant that countries impoverished they had been able to increase their tariffs of immediate mode in case of massive imports of foreign agricultural products.

United States said to be willing to cut their agricultural subsidies to achieve an agreement on world trade, but China, India and Brazil (the so-called emerging powers) should open their markets to agricultural and industrial products of rich countries, virtually without limit. According to NGO Intermon Oxfam, dedicated to the development and the trade fair, the alleged cuts in agricultural subsidies would have meant almost nothing in the case of United States and for the EU would have only meant a reduction of 2.6 billion euros of a total of 30 billion. Rich countries should have shown greater political leadership for trade reforms that would reduce poverty, but have defended their interests only and have undergone great pressure poor countries to make concessions that have no place in a round which aims the development of poor countries, denounced Intermon Oxfam.