About IWOGDA

The International Working Group on the Doha Agenda (IWOGDA) was launched after the Doha Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation held in 2001. The inclusion of new issues, namely investment, competition policy, trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement in the Doha Declaration brought about new challenges for the developing countries. 

Many developing countries’ governments are reluctant to discuss these topics at the WTO. Awareness of the issues has traditionally been low in the developing world, not only among civil society, but also among policy makers and trade negotiators. As a consequence, research and dialogue of these matters has remained confined to a limited circle and there is an urgent need to promote a broader understanding. 

The IWOGDA Project has been a response to this situation. The programme intends to involve leading international experts, practitioners and other stakeholders in the areas proposed at Doha for future negotiation. The first phase of the programme dealt with competition policy and investment. The second phase deals with trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement. 

The main objectives of the programme are to:

• Develop a knowledge base and understanding of the principles, modalities and implications of a potential agreement on the issues;

• Assist countries, especially developing ones, to evolve appropriate negotiating positions;

• Build the capacity of negotiators and other stakeholders;

• Feed WTO working groups with the views of experts, practitioners and other stakeholders;

• Sensitise industrialised countries in general of the concerns and feelings of developing countries; and

• Assist countries in clearing their doubts about the utility of multilateral agreements on new issues in order to enable them to present well-argued concerns at the negotiating table, rather than just relying on rhetoric and hearsay.

Phase I concluded successfully in 2003. The publication “Putting our Fears on the Table: Analyses of the proposals on investment and competition agreements at the WTO” was presented at the final meeting. 

Phase II, which deals with Trade Facilitation and Transparency in Government Procurement started in January 2004 and is scheduled to finish in November 2004. The project has involved researchers from all over the world (especially developing countries) requesting them to write short papers on specific issues concerning trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement. The experts have submitted draft papers that have been peer reviewed. These were presented during the review meeting held in Jaipur on 28^th and 29^th June 2004. The purpose of this meeting was to bring together experts’ views and to brainstorm in order to clarify the issues being dealt with. During the meeting international experts representing civil society, inter-governmental agencies, government institutions and academia discussed and debated their draft research papers.

The Final Meetings were held as part of the Symposium on the WTO's July Package co-organised by CUTS, UN-NGLS and the Evian Group in Geneva on 3^rd November 2004. During the sessions on TF and TGP the project outputs were presented and the synthesis reports distributed. The final reports including all case studies will be published by the end of November. Copies of the publications will be available on request from CITEE.

CUTS aims to provide a networking platform to discuss the complex and contentious issues Trade Facilitation and Transparency in Government Procurement and to facilitate communication amongst the stakeholders. 

For further information click on the links at the top of the page or contact Aparna Shivpuri (TF) or Diana Montero Melis (TGP) at:
iwogda@cuts-international.org.