A Possible Step Towards a Global Unity
by Gala Chausson

As the ending of the Doha Round might finally be achieved soon according to the declarations of Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO, the hopes of a more distortion-free trade is coming to light. Since 2001, the Doha Round has reunited the members of the WTO and discussions have been taking place mainly regarding the trade of agricultural goods and the high distortion that it is subject to.

Indeed, at the creation of the GATT (which eventually became the WTO) in the late 1940s, the few nations that were members at the time were seeking a globally freer trade and the lowering of tariffs, but the agricultural sector was given a special status in order to protect the farming sectors of, mostly, the US and the EU. Since then, this exception still exists, and it has given rise over time to a very distorted trade that blocks the exports and competitiveness of the developing countries. Indeed the subsidies that the developed countries are able to provide for their farming sector favors very competitive exports and the tariffs imposed on imports, reducing the entry of goods from developing countries in the developed ones. Considering the that the agricultural sector represents 60% of the activity of developing countries and 10% of the developed ones, the monopoly on competitiveness from countries enriched by other industries seem irrational when the development of the world is at stake.

The Doha Round began in 2001 having as a goal to substantially diminish trade distortions in order to favor the trade of developing countries. Seven years later, even though it looks as if an agreement will soon be accomplished, the Round hasn’t ended. There is definitely a theoretical willingness to improve the worldwide welfare and help the developing world reach certain goals, but compromises are often hard to make when it implies losing an advantage. Countries want to protect at best their interests. The larger picture and the benefits of global development remain in the back of many minds. A global consciousness has yet to be achieved.

Even though the WTO and the other multilateral organizations that are part of the international governance, by acting and taking decisions for the world as a whole, they have the ability to create a unity and tighten the links between the nations all over the world. Cases like trade distortions in agriculture show that the world is far from functioning as a single entity. The most developed nations are often still the ones that rule, and they are not willing to cede this power unless they are pushed away from it.

The transformation is happening little by little, as the flow of information increases and more countries industrialize. Nonetheless, within this global governance that is supposedly unbiased and above the differences of power, different voices don't have the same impact. Developing countries don't have the same means to defend their interests because they don't have enough specialized representatives, or because they are not informed of the different discussions that are taking place. They are often indirectly excluded from the decision making, while the developed countries are much more at ease to make the most suitable decisions for themselves. The inequalities therefore remain, and the most powerful are able to keep control over most regions of the world.

It is definitely a long road until the world can advance as one and is able to get the best out of every region and every citizen. These changes won't be made on the good will of the developed nations, but on the progressive advance of the developing ones if they are able to fight better; the end of the Doha Round could be a big step towards that. A better integration of the developing world into a full-fledged actor of the globalization would lead to an increase of the exchanges in between developing countries, at the periphery, and slightly diminish the role of industrial countries as the center of the world. This equality could give the opportunities to every individual no matter where they come from and enrich the world in every sense of the term.