Mapping a New Course for Development

Over the past nine months, the Doha Development Round of WTO negotiations, the UN International Conference on Financing for Development, the World Food Summit: Five Years Later, and the G-8 Summit have forged stronger international agreements on how to advance development most effectively. At the Johannesburg Summit and in the years ahead, the United States will continue to focus on obtaining concrete results in sustainable development through partnerships.

The Doha Development Round (launched November 14, 2001): The United States worked closely with developing countries to launch the Doha "Development" Round of the World Trade Organization last November in Doha, Qatar. The Doha Declaration includes a strong commitment for agricultural reform, as well as other increased market access opportunities and a strengthened rules-based trading system. The following Doha initiatives are of particular importance to developing countries:

• WTO members will negotiate reductions of export subsidies "with a view to phasing them out."
• WTO members commit to making substantial improvements in market access and in reducing trade-distorting domestic supports.

• WTO members committed to reduce or as appropriate, eliminate tariffs, as well as non-tariff barriers, in particular on products of export interest to developing countries.

• The declaration makes clear that TRIPS gives developing countries sufficient flexibility to address public health crises and is part of the solution to those problems.

• The declaration recognizes the special needs and interests of developing countries.
• The declaration provides firm commitments on technical cooperation and capacity building, both during negotiations and in implementation of agreements. (The United States has provided over $1.3 billion in trade capacity assistance to developing countries over the past three years.)

• Ministers agreed to a pragmatic environmental agenda that offers opportunities for increasing mutual supportiveness in international trade and environmental policies.
• Ministers also agreed to negotiations on fisheries subsidies and market access for environmental goods and services.

• Developing countries agreed with the United States that upcoming negotiations should address the issues of transparency and due process in members’ anti-dumping investigation procedures.
• WTO committees will give implementation issues, including subsidies and textiles, high priority in their work programs.

The U.N. Conference on Financing for Development (March 18-22), Monterrey, Mexico: The United States stressed the need to unlock and use well all sources of financing for economic development -- domestic savings, trade, and investment (foreign and domestic) -- as well as development assistance, and emphasized the importance of good governance. The Conference resulted in a "Monterrey Consensus" that:

• Reaffirms that countries have primary responsibility for their own economic and social development;
• Emphasizes the need for tapping all available financing resources and making effective use of these resources;
• Points to "hidden" domestic savings that can be unlocked through policy, regulatory and structural reforms--including fighting corruption-- as a major source of financing;
• Views trade as "an engine for development" and private international capital flows, especially foreign direct investment, as "vital complements" to development efforts;
• Emphasizes that official development assistance (ODA) is an important catalyst but is small relative to other resources for financing development -- i.e., domestic savings/GDP, productive investment, trade and international capital flows;
• Affirms the important role of ODA as a complement to other sources of financing, especially in those countries that currently have the least current capacity to attract private investment, but which are on a solid development path;
• Urges developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7% of GNP as ODA to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20% of GNP for Least Developed Countries (LDC's);
• Calls for full funding of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiatives aimed at reducing debt burden of the poorest countries;
• Stresses the importance of continued reforms of multilateral financial institutions and further improvements in financial institutions and trade systems; and
• Stresses the need to accelerate lasting development results and to meet agreed development goals by following these principles domestically and in international efforts.

World Food Summit: five years later (June 10-13), Rome: The United States, the world’s largest provider of food aid, came to this Summit determined to focus on results. A Summit priority was the issue of raising agricultural productivity. The summit declaration:

• Reaffirmed the "Monterrey Consensus" and urged WTO members to implement the outcome of the Doha Conference regarding reform of agricultural trade;
• Renewed commitments to halve the number of hungry people in the world by 2015;
• Stressed that poverty reduction and food security strategies should include measures to increase agricultural productivity; and
• Called for further research into new technologies such as biotechnology, and the introduction of such technologies to improve agricultural productivity.

The G-8 Summit (June 26-27), Kananaskis, Canada: Leaders at the Summit, which had a special focus on Africa, agreed:

• To provide 50% or more of the $12 billion in new aid commitments made in Monterrey to Africa, if African governments fulfill their policy and governance commitments;
• To support increased use of grants rather than loans by the International Development Association for the poorest debt-vulnerable countries;
• To fund their share of the shortfall in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative;
• To work towards achieving duty free and quota free market access for all products originating from the LDC's, most of which are located in Africa;
• To work towards enhancing market access -- consistent with WTO requirements -- for trade with African free trade areas or customs unions.
• To provide funding on a fairly shared basis to eradicate polio; and
• To work with all relevant parties to increase access in Africa to life-saving drugs and to make further progress against HIV-AIDS, TB, and malaria.