Bold as the 1994 Uruguay Round initiatives were, scholars are not convinced that the real motive behind them is actually the revitalization of the developing countries' agricultural export trade. Most of the developing countries are of no significant consequence in their trade relations with the developed countries to whom their total trade is largely oriented.
Indeed, despite the changes in the WTO, developing countries will continue to have a relatively weak bargaining position, as trade liberalization in the WTO remains dependent upon developed countries’ willingness to reduce tariffs and domestic support in areas of interest to developing countries. Moreover, trade in commodities has over the years been governed by Commodity Trade Agreements. There is no reference in the WTO of what will become of these Agreements. Their sustained use in the determination of commodity bargains side by side with the WTO Agreements will continue to impoverish commodity producers.
Aside from the observed internal weakness of the WTO, other factors contribute to Africa's poor competitiveness, and might hinder her ability to truly exploit opportunities presented by the WTO though the new system is expected to be problem free. These include:
· unfavourable supply conditions for cash crops,1 · poor and unreliable infrastructure (energy, water supply, transportation), · poor access to credit and foreign exchange, resulting in major supply problems, · lower labour productivity in relation to most Asian countries, · rural-urban migration away from agriculture to industrial and white-collar employment, · pervasive poverty and poor health, and · cumbersome export procedures.
All in all, the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations was not particularly favourable to African countries. This is to some extent related to the low level of participation by African countries in the negotiations. Also, the unfavourable results to some extent reflect imbalances whose overall effect penalized African countries. In particular, issues of great interest to African countries were not adequately covered in the Uruguay Round negotiations. Worse still, African countries accepted many binding obligations in exchange for non-binding promises from the developed countries of the North. Also, in retrospect, African countries did not fully understand the implications of many of the Uruguay Round agreements that they supported. Not surprisingly therefore, African countries have been faced with difficult administrative, institutional and financial problems in trying to meet the obligations which form integral parts of the WTO agreements. Many African countries have also encountered problems in trying to realize the benefits which the WTO agreements promised. A new round of negotiations, the Doha Round has been presented to developing countries as a means to redress the demonstrated imbalances and inequities of the Uruguay Round. The Doha Round has also been presented to developing countries as an opportunity to place more development-oriented issues and proposals on the negotiating agenda.
Note that expanding market access for its exports is particularly critical for Africa since it depends more on external trade than do other developing regions. In 2001, exports of goods and services accounted for 34% of the GDP of developing countries but they amounted to 40% of the GDP of sub-Saharan African countries. ECA (2003, p.20)
African Development Bank Economic Research Working Paper Series Enhancing Africa’s Trade: From Marginalization to an Export-Led Approach to Development Milton A. Iyoha Professor, Department of Economics & Statistics University of Benin, Nigeria Economic Research Working Paper No 77 (August 2005)
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