	Background and Overview of the Framework Agreement

The Framework Agreement is the latest achievement in the Doha Development Agenda(DDA) round of trade negotiations at the WTO. This round of trade negotiations was launched atthe 4th Ministerial of the WTO at Doha, Qatar in November 2001. At Doha, negotiators agreed to resolve issues related totheir implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements, to negotiate special and differentialtreatment for developing countries in the new round, and to provide technical assistance in thenegotiations and implementation of the agreements. The agreement also abandons the January 1, 2005 deadline for thenegotiations, but instead sets December 2005 as the date for the 6th Ministerial to be held in HongKong. Priorities. The Framework Agreement addresses the three "pillars" of agricultural trade liberalization identifiedin the 2001 Doha Ministerial Declaration: substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support;the phase-out, with a view to total elimination, of all export subsidies; and substantial improvementsin market access. Key provisions in the agriculture framework address trade-distorting domestic support,export competition, market access, cotton subsidies, and other issues. Non-Agricultural Market Access(13)

Non-agricultural market access (NAMA) received less scrutiny than agriculture innegotiations for the Framework Agreement. These include the modalityfor reducing tariffs, the binding of developing country tariffs, the issue of sectoral tariff elimination,and special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing countries. The Framework itselfmentions services only briefly because they were not the focus of the negotiations over theframework and the parameters of the negotiations had already been established as part of the "built-inagenda" and in the Doha Ministerial Declaration that launched the new round. The Frameworkreaffirms the commitments made in the Doha Ministerial Declaration and charges the negotiatorsto complete and submit their initial offers as soon as possible, to submit revised offers by May 2005and to ensure that the offers are of high quality. The Framework also charges the negotiators to bearin mind when making their offers the sectors and modes of supply that are of interest to developingcountries. The WTO negotiating Frameworksets forth modalities for negotiations on trade facilitation. U.S. Looking Ahead

The Framework Agreement resolved several contentious issues regarding the negotiation ofa future agriculture agreement. Much work remains to be done to flesh out the Framework to an actual agreement ontrade liberalization. In turn, the manner by which these issues are resolved may influence the level ofCongressional support for any resulting agreement. Services. Trade Facilitation. In establishing talks on trade facilitation, membercountries may first reach an agreement on whether to negotiate new rules, or merely guidelines, fortrade facilitation.
On July 31, 2004, the 147 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached aFramework Agreement for conducting future Doha Round trade negotiations. The FrameworkAgreement is the latest step in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) round of trade negotiationsat the WTO, which was launched at the 4th Ministerial of the WTO at Doha, Qatar in November2001. This report provides analysis of the framework agreement and its significant results(agriculture, industrial market access, services, and trade facilitation) in the context of U.S.objectives.
The Framework addresses the three "pillars" of agricultural trade liberalization identified inthe 2001 Doha Ministerial Declaration: substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support;the phase-out, with a view to total elimination, of all export subsidies; and substantial improvementsin market access. A crucial trade-off for the negotiations is the extent to which developed countriesreduce their trade-distorting domestic support in return for additional market access from largedeveloping countries.
Non-agricultural market access (NAMA) received less scrutiny. The agreement providesgeneral guidance for future negotiations on the modality for reducing tariffs, the binding ofdeveloping country tariffs, sectoral tariff elimination, and special and differential treatment (SDT)for developing countries. The NAMA talks may benefit from the new impetus in the agriculturalnegotiations.
The parameters of the services negotiations were established as part of the pre-Doha "built-inagenda" and in the Doha Ministerial Declaration that launched the new round. The frameworkreaffirms the commitments made at Doha and charges the negotiators to complete and submit theirinitial offers as soon as possible, to submit revised offers by May 2005, and to ensure that the offersare in sectors and modes of supply that are of interest to developing countries. Services involvingthe temporary movement of natural persons will remain contentious for both developed anddeveloping countries.
The Framework sets forth modalities for negotiations on trade facilitation, includingassessing the needs and priorities of member countries; providing technical assistance to developingcountries; and addressing trade facilitation language in the GATT agreement. An early matter forclarification is whether the negotiations will yield enforceable rules, or merely guidelines, for tradefacilitation.
While the Framework Agreement resolved several contentious issues regarding thenegotiation of a future agriculture agreement, other issues were addressed in a cursory fashion, ifat all. Much work remains to be done to flesh out the Framework to achieve an actual agreement ontrade liberalization. The manner in which these issues are resolved may influence the level ofCongressional support for any resulting agreement. The agreement also abandons the January 1,2005, deadline for the negotiations, but instead sets December 2005 as the date for the 6th Ministerialto be held in Hong Kong. This report will be updated as appropriate.