WTO News
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments Database
(03/05/09)
Revised Agricultural Modalities Texts
(07/10/08)
Falconer Agricultural Text (February 2008)
U.S. Submits Notification of Domestic Agricultural Support Payments to
World Trade Organization (10/04/07)
Revised Agricultural Modalities (07/17/07; .pdf)
On July 17, 2007, Ambassador Crawford Falconer, chairperson of the
agriculture negotiations, circulated his 45-page revised draft “modalities”
containing formulas for cutting tariffs and trade-distorting subsidies, and
related provisions.
WTO Members Set Year-End Deadline to Reach New Deal
Meeting in New Delhi, trade representatives from six key member nations of
the World Trade Organization have proposed a new year-end deadline to
complete negotiations on a treaty to liberalize global trade.
Transcript of
news conference (04/12/07; .pdf)
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments Database (Economic
Research Service; 10/04/06)
Johanns Attends WTO Negotiations At G-6 Meeting In United Kingdom And
Travels To Poland And Germany (03/10/06)
The WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an
independent international organization headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland that sets and maintains the rules of global trade .
Representatives from over 145 member countries use the WTO framework to
negotiate trade agreements, adjudicate trade disputes and review national
trade policies. By having a standard set of consistent and enforceable
ground rules, international trade can prosper without facing barriers such
as excessive tariffs, unfair regulations and other obstacles. Countries
participating in this freer global trade environment help expand the world
economy and increase their own citizens’ level of prosperity.
The WTO and U.S. Agriculture
Year after year, America’s agricultural
producers consistently produce high-quality, competitively priced
agricultural products. In 2004 alone, the U.S. exported over $62.4 billion
of agricultural products, producing hundreds of thousands of jobs of
good-paying jobs throughout rural and urban America.
As impressive as this trade sounds, it
could be expanded if many of the trade barriers that have been eliminated
for other goods under the WTO are also eliminated for agriculture.
The Doha Round and
Beyond - U.S. Proposal, 2002
Until a few years ago, the WTO and its
predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), have
focused mostly on manufactured goods. After the 2001 round of negotiations
in Doha, Qatar, WTO members agreed to begin talks to lower tariffs and
other barriers to free and fair agricultural trade. The United States believes this
is a historic opportunity to not only help its farmers, ranchers and
growers export more, but to improve the lives of producers and consumers
in the developing world and around the globe.
The Harbinson Draft,
2003
As
part of the timeframe for agricultural negotiations outlined in the Doha
negotiations, the chairman of the WTO committee on agricultural
negotiations, Ambassador Stewart Harbinson of Hong Kong, produced a
document that aimed to bridge the gaps in the negotiation positions of
various countries.
Fifth WTO
Ministerial in Cancún, Mexico (September 2003)
The
Cancún Ministerial, the latest
meeting of the World Trade Organization, concluded on September 14 without
consensus. (For the U.S. response, see
Op-Ed
by U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick: "America Will
Not Wait for the Won't-Do Countries," Financial Times
[09/22/03])
