Recent developments and the outlook for trade negotiations: Report from a responsible organization

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the recent developments and the outlook for trade negotiations, taking into account the background of the Doha-Round negotiations and the current negotiation position of WTO members. The results are as follows. The Doha-Round negotiations were carried out under the Doha mandate, which was recognized as giving special and different treatment to developing countries. However, there was an assertion of the need for a new approach at the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi 2015. In other words, the pros and cons of the continuity of the Doha-Round negotiations were stipulated in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration. There were fierce arguments between developed countries and developing countries as to whether emerging economies such as China that have undergone economic development should be treated as developing countries. In addition to this problem, there are a lot of serious issues surrounding the WTO such as the progress of the EPA/FTA, the U.S. trade policy under the Trump administration, the issue of the members of the Appellate Body in the WTO, the interpretation of national security concerning the Article 21 of the GATT and the issue of handling public stockholdings for food security purposes. Despite these circumstances, the existence of the WTO is extremely important for its function in promoting free trade. In particular, it can be said that the WTO is significant in terms of being able to unify many trade rules by authorizing release from the complexity of rules created by the EPA/FTA. As Japan depends heavily on trade and has achieved economic development by trade, Japan needs to positively engage in promoting the WTO, not only at the administrative level but also through various international meetings such as the top level and the ministerial level.