WTO Rules

The Doha mandate calls for negotiations to clarify and improve disciplines under the Antidumping and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreements, "while preserving the basic concepts, principles and effectiveness of these agreements and their instruments and objectives." Work thus far has focused on identifying items for possible negotiation, including disciplines on trade-distorting practices. The Doha mandate also calls for negotiations to clarify and improve disciplines on fisheries subsidies. The rules negotiations also cover the WTO disciplines and procedures applicable to regional trade agreements.

Dispute Settlement Understanding

WTO members are reviewing the Dispute Settlement Understanding which governs the process of WTO dispute settlement. The United States seeks to strengthen the dispute settlement rules and advocates increased transparency, enhanced flexibility and member control in the WTO dispute settlement system.

Implementation-Related Issues

The ministers in Doha agreed on an extensive package of actions to address issues and concerns, as identified by many developing country members, regarding the implementation of some WTO agreements and decisions. The centerpiece of the implementation package was a decision by ministers on procedures for extending transition periods for the elimination of certain export subsidies by developing country members with a relatively small share of global trade. Remaining implementation issues are to be addressed by standing WTO bodies or in the context of the Doha negotiating round.

WTO Implementation Related Issues and Concerns ( PDF)
World Trade Organization

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Ministers at Doha recognized that the WTO TRIPS Agreement should be flexibly interpreted in order to address public health crises, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics, which can represent a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency. Under discussion is the question of how members with insufficient or no manufacturing capabilities can make use of the TRIPS provisions on compulsory licensing in order to address extraordinary needs, while preserving the protection provided by patents.

Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health ( PDF)
World Trade Organization

Trade and Environment

The mandate of the trade and environment negotiations is to consider the relationship between existing WTO rules and specific trade obligations in Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs) such as CITES, the Montreal Protocol or the Basel Convention. Negotiations also aim to reduce or eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in environmental goods and services.

Technical Cooperation and Capacity Building

The Doha negotiations precipitated a more intensive program of technical assistance and capacity building to integrate developing countries into the system. As a first step, following the Doha Ministerial Declaration's instructions to develop a plan ensuring long-term funding for WTO technical assistance, the General Council adopted on December 21, 2001 a new budget to increase technical assistance funding by 80% and establish the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. The fund has an annual budget of 24 million Swiss francs. In Hong Kong, the United States announced it would double its commitment to aid for trade from $1.3 billion in 2005 to $2.7 billion annually by 2010.