Uruguay round:

Agenda for the UR

The Uruguay Round  negotiations that started in  the  mid-80s were path breaking and very complex.the agenda fot the UR was agreed on after very contentious negotiations. .But  the agenda marked a very clear break with past negotiations. Agriculture was included and  so were textiles. So these two sectors of great interest to developing countries were to be brought back into the system.  The scope of the rule-based system was to be further expanded  into entirely  new areas. Services  were included for the first time.  The economic structure, particularly of the  US  had  been changing,  it was becoming more of a service economy, and the newer sectors wanted access into other markets.

Trade related intellectual property  rights (TRIPRs)  and  trade related investment measures (Tms)  were also included.  In addition, a number of issues bedevilling the working of a liberal trade system were included.  The eighties saw a large increase in contingent protection measures. Countries, were increasing investigations  into allegations'  that exporting countries were subsidising exports or dumping them.  Analysts felt that investigations were often a non-tariff banier  (NTB) and  the rules regarding investigations  and remedies needed to be tightened. Analysts also felt that the safeguard clause, which enabled governments to protect  domestic industries  fiom  sudden damaging surges of imports in order to give them  time to adjust was being misused.  Protection could be by QRs and for extended periods.  The dispute settlement procedure was not working well as there were no clear rules and time limits.  Establishment of dispute settlement panels and adoption of the final report required consensus. Normally,  the country  against which  the  claim was made or which  lost  the case had  also to  agree, and  this  increased  the difficulty of reaching agreement on establishing panels or of accepting  the report, which would have resolved the dispute.  As a consequence, not many disputes were bought before the system.

Developing countries faced a particular problem in the UR.  The inclusion of services also forced developing countries to participate in the MTNs.  As you learned  in the previous Unit, liberalisation of  service trade  would  often require modification of domestic legislation and developing countries had  to participate to  protect  their  interests. While the developing countries  could stay on the sidelines when tariff negotiations were being held, they realised that they could not afford to do so when rules were being negotiated as  that would mean that the rules would not reflect their concerns.