The Andean countries are active members of the WTO. Issues that are crucial to the development strategies of these countries are within the organization’s sphere of competence. For that reason, the Andean countries consider it important to participate jointly and in coordination in the activities that are carried out within the framework of the WTO.

The Declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference, held in Doha (Qatar) in November 2001, mandates the negotiations that are conducted in the Trade Negotiations Committee, its subsidiary bodies, and the other WTO councils and committees. The Doha Work Program contains instructions for 21 trade issues that in most cases involve negotiations.

On February 1, 2002, the Trade Negotiations Committee agreed on the following negotiating structure that includes the operation of new Negotiating Groups on Market Access and Rules (Anti-dumping, Subsidies and Regional Trade Agreements) and Special Sessions on Agriculture (of the Committee on Agriculture), Services (in the Council on Trade in Services), Intellectual Property (in the TRIPS --Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights-- Council), Dispute Settlement (in the Dispute Settlement Body), the Environment (in the Committee on Trade and Environment), and the Application of Existing WTO Agreements (in the pertinent bodies).

According to the Program, the negotiations are open to all member countries and observer governments. The deadline for completion of the negotiations has been set at January 1, 2005 and a Single undertaking (nothing is agreed until everything is agreed) is expected to emerge. Transparency, sustainable development and special and differential treatment are other principles that regulate the negotiations.

In this connection, considerable emphasis is placed on giving special and differential treatment to developing countries in three ways: as an integral part of WTO Agreements; all negotiations and other aspects of the Doha work program should take this principle fully into account; and all provisions on special and differential treatment must be carefully examined to ensure that they are as precise, effective and operational as possible.

When the Cancun Ministerial Conference of September 2003 resulted in a stalemate, the WTO members in Geneva made efforts to put the negotiations and rest of the work program back on track. Efforts were stepped up in the first half of 2004 for a new purpose: to reach an accord on a package of framework agreements by the end of July --on Friday, July 30, to be precise.

On July 31, 2004, the governments of the 147 member countries of the WTO approved a set of framework agreements that breathed new life into the Doha negotiations.

The so-called “July package” had the merit of restarting the negotiations by putting on the agenda commitments like the elimination of subsidies and the reduction of domestic support to agriculture.

The guidelines, in general terms, incorporate the aspirations of the developing countries with regard to key issues of the negotiation, like agriculture (in the three pillars: elimination of export subsidies, reduction of domestic support, and market access) and market access for non-agricultural goods. However, whether those guidelines give rise to concrete actions through acceptable means and within reasonable periods of time will depend on the results of the negotiation process.

According to the Working Program adopted by the Commission in March 2005, Andean coordination will center on the following areas: