After five days of talks in Nairobi, the respective ministers of trade of the member-states of World Trade Organization (WTO) inked an important deal regarding Africa’s cotton industry. The agreement is to help the less developed countries, mainly those in sub-Saharan Africa, have a greater access to non-producing foreign markets for the commodity by suppressing customs and taxes. It was also said that cotton subsidies to the developed and developing countries are to be stopped in 2017.

WTO’s 10th ministerial conference also produced an agreement which includes the suppression of subsidies directed towards boosting export of agricultural products. These grants are to immediately be stopped in developed countries. As for the developing countries, they have been given an extension going from 2018 to 2023 before suppression.

“The decision taken today concerning export competition is truly exceptional. This is WTO’s greatest achievement in terms of agriculture,” congratulated Roberto Azevêdo, WTO’s director general.

On December 16, the member-states of WTO reached another accord regarding information technologies (ATI). It includes the suppression of customs taxes on 201 additional IT products, thus boosting international trade with up to 1,300 billion USD per year in additional import and export.

Despite these, no achievement has been registered regarding the Doha cycle, a mechanism which is to lower the various trade barriers so as to enhance development.

Similarly, no progress has been made regarding the policy to adopt for food security. Same goes for the special safeguard mechanism, which allows developing countries to temporarily raise taxes on imports of agricultural products in case of excessive imports or dropping of prices of these products. Developing countries consider that the outcome of WTO’s 10^th ministerial conference is mitigated. “They limited the damage”, said the Alliance Sud NGO. .