{
  "id": "RL32645",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32645",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 305033,
      "date": "2005-02-10",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:53:21.077029",
      "title": "The Doha Development Agenda: The WTO Framework Agreement",
      "summary": "On July 31, 2004, the 147 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a\nFramework\nAgreement for conducting future Doha Round trade negotiations. The Framework Agreement is the\nlatest step in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) round of trade negotiations at the WTO, which\nwas launched at the 4th Ministerial of the WTO at Doha, Qatar in November 2001. This report\nprovides analysis of the framework agreement and its significant results (agriculture, industrial\nmarket access, services, and trade facilitation) in the context of U.S. objectives.\n  The Framework addresses the three \"pillars\" of agricultural trade liberalization identified in the\n2001 Doha Ministerial Declaration: substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support; the\nphase-out, with a view to total elimination, of all export subsidies; and substantial improvements in\nmarket access. A crucial trade-off for the negotiations is the extent to which developed countries\nreduce their trade-distorting domestic support in return for additional market access from large\ndeveloping countries.\n  Non-agricultural market access (NAMA) received less scrutiny. The agreement provides\ngeneral guidance for future negotiations on the modality for reducing tariffs, the binding of\ndeveloping country tariffs, sectoral tariff elimination, and special and differential treatment (SDT)\nfor developing countries. The NAMA talks may benefit from the new impetus in the agricultural\nnegotiations.\n  The parameters of the services negotiations were established as part of the pre-Doha \"built-in\nagenda\" and in the Doha Ministerial Declaration that launched the new round. The framework\nreaffirms the commitments made at Doha and charges the negotiators to complete and submit their\ninitial offers as soon as possible, to submit revised offers by May 2005, and to ensure that the offers\nare in sectors and modes of supply that are of interest to developing countries. Services involving\nthe temporary movement of natural persons will remain contentious for both developed and\ndeveloping countries. \n  The Framework sets forth modalities for negotiations on trade facilitation, including assessing\nthe needs and priorities of member countries; providing technical assistance to developing countries;\nand addressing trade facilitation language in the GATT agreement. An early matter for clarification\nis whether the negotiations will yield enforceable rules, or merely guidelines, for trade facilitation.\n  While the Framework Agreement resolved several contentious issues regarding the negotiation\nof a future agriculture agreement, other issues were addressed in a cursory fashion, if at all. Much\nwork remains to be done to flesh out the Framework to achieve an actual agreement on trade\nliberalization. The manner in which these issues are resolved may influence the level of\nCongressional support for any resulting agreement. The agreement also abandons the January 1,\n2005, deadline for the negotiations, but instead sets December 2005 as the date for the 6th\nMinisterial\nto be held in Hong Kong. This report will be updated as appropriate.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Agricultural Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Industry and Trade"
  ]
}