The Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference and
Doha Development Agenda

The Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Doha, Qatar from 9 to 14 November 2001. After protracted negotiations, ministers agreed to launch a new Round of multilateral trade negotiations on the basis of a work programme set out in the Doha Ministerial Declaration. Ministers also adopted a Declaration on the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and Public Health, and a Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns.

The work programme is broad and balanced. It includes negotiations in the areas of agricultural products, services, market access for non-agricultural products, and certain environment-related issues, as well as negotiations aimed at clarifying and improving existing WTO rules. It also includes future work on the following areas: e-commerce; trade facilitation; transparency in government procurement; trade and competition policy; trade and investment; as well as on the improvements and clarification of the Dispute Settlement Understanding. Ministers aim to conclude the new Round of negotiations, called by some the "Doha Development Agenda", by 1 January 2005.

The separate declaration on TRIPS Agreement and Public Health reiterates the importance of intellectual property protection for the development of new medicines, while reaffirming that TRIPS Agreement does not and should not prevent WTO members from taking measures to protect public health.

The Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns spells out concrete actions to address issues and concerns raised by developing economies in the implementation of certain WTO agreements.