sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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4. The Doha Round and <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>
The Doha Round of trade talks in the framework of WTO, launched in November <strong>20</strong>01, represents the
main effort so far to incorporate the dimension of <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> into the agenda of the
multilateral trading system. Paragraph 6 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration states that “the aims of
upholding and safeguarding an open and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, and acting for the
protection of the environment and the promotion of <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> can and must be mutually
supportive.” The Doha Round reaffirms the right of all countries to adopt measures to protect human,
animal or plant life or health, or the environment at the levels it considers appropriate —provided they are
not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination
between countries where the same conditions prevail, or as a disguised restriction on international trade,
and are otherwise in accordance with the provisions of the WTO Agreements (WTO, <strong>20</strong>01).
The Doha Round has the potential to achieve results that promote <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> in
various fields. The Doha Round negotiating agenda links several issues to <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>. One
of these is agriculture, where: (i) agreement in principle has been reached to phase out all forms of export
subsidies (which for manufactured products have been banned since 1958); (ii) substantial reductions are
expected to be achieved in authorized trade-distorting domestic support granted by industrialized
countries; and (iii) also substantial reductions are expected to be achieved in market access barriers,
through a formula whereby the highest tariffs have to be cut most in percentage terms. This would benefit
developing countries by enabling them to take better advantage of their comparative advantages in
agriculture; and it would promote <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> by reducing the environmental costs
associated with overproduction in industrialized countries.
Secondly, the agenda includes specific negotiations on trade and the environment, focusing on
three issues: (i) reducing (or eventually eliminating) barriers to trade in environmental goods and services;
(ii) clarifying the relation between WTO regulations and multilateral agreements on the environment,
particularly those that contain “specific trade obligations”; and (iii) strengthening cooperation between the
WTO Secretariat and the secretariats of multilateral environmental agreements.
Thus far, WTO members have not reached consensus on the range of products for which tariff
and non-tariff barriers should be reduced. Part of the reason for this is the lack of a universally accepted
definition of “environmental good”. Nonetheless, the main reason is the apparent conflict between the
different interests at stake. Industrialized countries, which are currently the main producers of
environmental technologies, are striving for the most ambitious outcome possible, to thus maximize their
export opportunities; while a large number of developing countries are seeking to promote their capacity
to produce these technologies locally, so they are reluctant to reduce their import barriers. 10
The Doha Round also includes negotiations on fishery subsidies. According to World Bank
estimates, in <strong>20</strong>00, about US$ 10 billion were disbursed worldwide in subsidies to increase the catch
capacity of fishing fleets; about 80% of that amount was granted to industrialized countries (FAO/World
Bank, <strong>20</strong>08). Their main beneficiaries are the European Union and a number of Asian economies,
particularly Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan Province of China. Of all subsidies, the most
important were on fuel (63.5%) and for the construction, renewal and modernization of fishing fleets
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Compounding this is the fact that the willingness of certain developing countries to lower tariffs on
environmental goods and services will depend heavily on the gains they perceive in other areas of priority
interest within the Doha Round, such as agriculture.