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DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: TEXTS

The Doha Round texts — contents

These are the principal documents agreed by WTO member governments at important stages in the trade negotiations that were launched by the Doha Ministerial Conference in November 2001.

They are introduced here

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Contents

Prologue   back to top

• Mandate in Uruguay Round Agreements, Agriculture Article 20, Services Article 19, Intellectual Property Article 23.4

• General Council decision on Implementation Issues and Concerns, decided 15 December 2000, document WT/L/384

• Services Council Special Session decision on Guidelines and Procedures for the Negotiations, adopted 29 March 2001, S/L/93.

Doha Ministerial Conference 9–14 November 2001   back to top

• The Doha Ministerial Declaration adopted 14 November 2001, WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1

• Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health adopted 14 November 2001, WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2

• Ministerial Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns decided 14 November 2001, WT/MIN(01)/17

• Ministerial Decision on the Waiver for the EU-ACP Partnership Agreement decided 14 November 2001, WT/MIN(01)/15

• Ministerial Decision on the EU’s Transitional Regime for Banana Imports decided 14 November 2001, WT/MIN(01)/16

• Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Committee — Procedures for extending provisions allowing some developing countries to continue to subsidize exports, adopted 14 November 2001, G/SCM/39.
  (This comes under paragraph 10.6 of the Doha Implementation Decision, and refers to Article 27.4 of the Subsidies Agreement. The procedure is issued by the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Committee, which met specially for the purpose at the Doha Ministerial Conference. The decision was adopted on 14 November 2001, along with the Doha ministerial declarations and decisions.)

Organization of work Geneva 2002   back to top

• General Council Chairperson’s statement, including principles and practices for the negotiations, 1 February 2002, TN/C/1

Doha Round texts after Doha   back to top

• 2003 Services: Modalities for special treatment for least-developed countries decided 3 September 2003, TN/S/13

• 2004 “Frameworks”: General Council decision (the “July Package”) decided 1 August 2004, WT/L/579

• 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference Declaration adopted 18 December 2005, WT/MIN(05)/DEC

TRIPS and public health 2002, 2003   back to top

• TRIPS Council decision allowing least-developed countries until 2016 to protect pharmaceutical patents and test data decided 1 July 2002, IP/C/25
  (A few days after this was agreed in the TRIPS Council, the General Council reached a closely related decision on 8 July 2002 (WT/L/478), allowing least-developed countries until 2016 to grant exclusive marketing rights under Article 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement. This deals with the situation where pharmaceutical patents are not protected, but a patent application has been submitted and the government has allowed the product to be marketed.)

• General Council decision on compulsory licensing for export (“Implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and public health”) decided 30 August 2003, WT/L/540 and Corr.1
  (The General Council has adopted two decisions on the “Paragraph 6” system — a reference to Paragraph 6 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. The decisions dealt with an obstacle for countries needing to import cheaper generics made under compulsory licensing when they were unable to manufacture the medicines themselves. Now, pharmaceutical products can be made under compulsory licence in one country, exclusively for exporting to another country which lacks its own production capacity, provided certain conditions are met.
  
  The first decision, adopted in 2003 just before the Cancún Ministerial Conference, is reproduced here. It is the one that is currently in force, a waiver bypassing provisions of Articles 31(f) and 31 (h) of the TRIPS Agreement. The second (General Council decision WT/L/641) was adopted in 2005 on the eve of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. It will replace the waiver with a permanent amendment whose contents are identical, when two thirds of the WTO’s members have accepted the change.
  
  When the waiver and the proposed amendment were adopted, the General Council chairperson also read out a statement, which can be found on the WTO website, along with other information on the subject, here)