In the present article I analyse the current Doha round negotiations, which try to address the development issues as stated in the Ministerial Declaration of 2001, and their suspension. A more detailed analysis shows that the negotiations do not significantly improve the prospects of many developing countries and therefore would most likely not significantly help improve their efforts in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. According to various scenarios and contrary to the initial intent, the richest and most developed countries, as well as a few other middle income countries, would gain significantly, whereas many of the poorest countries in the world would lose out again. To run a truly developmental round, the negotiators should address a number of issues that are currently not on the table. Issues such as tariff escalation, the reciprocity principle, the possibility of the developing countries to run coordinated development policies, and migration of the work force, should be put on the table if a genuinely balanced agreementis to be reached that would serve the interests of both the developed and developing countries. The issue of agriculture should be primarily addressed by the two leading trading blocs themselves. There is no reason for not transferring good practices in this area, especially in food safety and sustainable environmentalfriendly farming to the poorest countries that are largely dependent on agriculture. This would probably be not only in the interest of individual countries, but also in the global interest. Proper development negotiations should be substantially extended and should address a number of other development issues that are not on the table at the moment.
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