Another approach is to adopt more limited pacts, which include many members or all members of the World Trade Organization. A good example is the December 2013 Trade Facilitation Agreement, in which all W.T.O. members agreed to improve their customs services, border crossing points and ports. Under the agreement, less developed countries will benefit from technical assistance and expertise to help them improve their trading systems. Another rewarding effort, which began in 2014 with 14 W.T.O. members, including the United States, China and the European Union, aims to eliminate tariffs on environmental goods such as solar panels and wind turbines. The Doha Round officially began in November 2001 and committed all countries to negotiate the opening of agriculture and manufacturing markets, as well as negotiations on trade in services (GATS) and enhanced intellectual property regulation (TRIPS). According to his supporters, the intention of the cycle was to make trade rules fairer for developing countries. [11] However, in 2008, critics criticized that the cycle would extend a system of trade rules, which is bad for development and excessively seizing the internal “political space” of countries. [12] In early 2010, Brazil and Lamy focused on the role of the United States in resolving the impasse. President Lula called on Barack Obama to end a trade dispute between Brazil and the United States over cotton subsidies, following the official WTO green light in 2009 to impose sanctions on imports of more than 100 U.S. products. [49] Lamy stressed the difficulty of reaching a U.S.
agreement without presidential authority and every two years. [50] One of the consequences of the 2008-2009 economic crisis is the desire of political leaders to protect their constituents from the increasingly competitive market that was experienced during market operations. Lamy hoped that the 12% decline in trade in 2009, considered the largest annual decline since World War II, could be offset by a successful conclusion to the Doha Round. [51] In December 2013, negotiations at the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, under the new Director General Roberto Azavédo, reached an agreement on a “Bali package” that dealt with a small part of the Doha programme[6] mainly bureaucratic “bureaucracy”. [54] Due to the controversial nature of reform of intellectual property laws, trade in services and crop subsidies for food security, discussions have focused on trade facilitation, which means that cross-border tariffs and other rules that impede international trade will be reduced. However, there have been some controversies on this subject, with Cuba threatening to oppose any agreement that did not affect the US embargo on Cuba. The trade facilitation agreed in Bali could reduce the cost of transporting goods worldwide by more than 10% and increase global production by more than $400 billion a year, with disproportionate benefits for poor countries. [55] It was argued that the Bali package, if fully implemented, could boost the global economy by $1 trillion and create 21 million new jobs. [7] The Bali Agreement provided for a 12-month period for the development of a “clearly defined work programme” on other issues.