"The WTO was more about free trade than fair trade."
Neera, Traicraft partner, Fair Trade Forum India
What was agreed: in a nutshell
- Rich countries to abolish export subsidies by 2013 - but only if poor countries agree to open up their industrial and service sectors to rich countries' companies - something developing countries had strongly resisted.
- A development package to help poor countries gain access to rich countries markets - but the benefits will be minimal.
- To hold a further meeting in Geneva (where the WTO headquarters are based) probably in March or April 2006.
WTO brought back from the brink - but at what cost?
The WTO talks have been saved from collapse, but only after days of anger, frustration and compromise which have left the so-called 'development agenda' weaker than ever before.
Delegates worked through the night on the last day of the Ministerial, to try and reach a solution on how the talks could move forward.
Negotiations continued into Sunday, delaying the formal closure of the conference. Eventually, a final statement was agreed, but one that offers precious little to poor people.
There are some very limited concessions to developing countries, but WTO members ducked many of the more difficult decisions by postponing them to a follow-up meeting in Geneva in the spring.
The UK government in particular entered the talks saying they would not use them to force poor countries to liberalize (ie open their markets to rich countries and companies). But as part of the EU delegation, they've allowed the opposite to take place.
After the previous Ministerial meeting collapsed (Cancun, 2003), there was much riding on these talks. The WTO has been saved from extinction but at the expense of a real commitment to make trade work for the poor.
