These four subjects were originally included on the Doha Development Agenda. The carefully-negotiated mandate was for negotiations to start after the 2003 Cancún Ministerial Conference,  “on the basis of a decision to be taken, by explicit consensus, at that session on modalities of negotiations”. There was no consensus, and the members agreed on 1 August 2004 to proceed with negotiations in only one subject, trade facilitation. The other three were dropped from the Doha agenda.

The three areas of work on trade and investment in the WTO

1. Working Group on the relationship between trade and investment. back to top

The Working Group on the Relationship between Trade and Investment was established during the 1996 Ministerial Conference in Singapore to examine the relationship between trade and investment. There is no negotiation of new rules or commitments.
  

The mandate of the Working Group

The Declaration of the 1996 Ministerial Conference in Singapore  
See decision item 20

  
Checklist of issues suggested for study by the Working Group (document code WT/WGTI/2) — see annex 1 of this document.

  
Decision of the General Council on the work of the Working Group (document code WT/WGTI/2) — see paragraphs 226 - 227 of this document.
  

2. Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) back to top

This Agreement, negotiated during the Uruguay Round, applies only to measures that affect trade in goods. Recognizing that certain investment measures can have trade-restrictive and distorting effects, it states that no Member shall apply a measure that is prohibited by the provisions of GATT Article III (national treatment) or Article XI (quantitative restrictions). Examples of inconsistent measures, as spelled out in the Annex's Illustrative List, include local content or trade balancing requirements. The Agreement contains transitional arrangements allowing Members to maintain notified TRIMs for a limited time following the entry into force of the WTO (two years in the case of developed country Members, five years for developing country Members, and seven years for least-developed country Members). The Agreement also establishes a Committee on TRIMs to monitor the operation and implementation of these commitments

The mandate for work on TRIMs

The Doha mandate: Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) in the 2001 ministerial decision on implementation

  
Summary of the TRIMs Agreement

  
Browse or download the text of the “TRIMs agreement” from the legal texts gateway

Find decisions of WTO bodies concerning the TRIMs Agreement in the Analytical Index — Guide to WTO Law and Practice

3. Trade and Investment in the context of the GATS back to top

The mandate

Overview of the GATS and rules for growth and investment
Links to the section on GATS and rules for growth and investment section of the WTO Guide “Understanding the WTO”.

Summary of the GATS

Download the legal text of the GATS in pdf format.

Work on investment and the GATS

Trade and Investment 

There are three main areas of work in the WTO on trade and investment:

·         A Working Group established in 1996 conducts analytical work on the relationship between trade and investment. (1996年12月9-13日，新加坡部长会议。成立了贸易与投资关系工作组，开始就贸易与投资的关系进行讨论和研究)

·         The Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (“TRIMs Agreement”), one of the Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods, prohibits trade-related investment measures, such as local content requirements, that are inconsistent with basic provisions of GATT 1994. （“贸易有关的投资措施”）

·         The General Agreement on Trade in Services addresses foreign investment in services as one of four modes of supply of services.（GATS对服务贸易四种方式之一的“商业存在”这种投资形式进行了规范）

News back to top

·         1 Aug 04: Round-the-clock meetings produce ‘historic’ breakthrough
> news item    > the July 2004 package

·         WT/L/579
2 August 2004 Decision Adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004

·         Relationship between Trade and Investment, Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy and Transparency in Government Procurement: the Council agrees that these issues, mentioned in the Doha Ministerial Declaration in paragraphs 20-22, 23-25 and 26 respectively, will not form part of the Work Programme set out in that Declaration and therefore no work towards negotiations on any of these issues will take place within the WTO during the Doha Round.
  

·         16-18 Sep 02: formal meeting of the Working Group on the relationship between trade and investment 
At its third formal meeting since the Doha Ministerial Conference the Working Group completed its review of the seven issues set out for further clarification in paragraph 22 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. Altogether some 39 written contributions (document codes WT/WGTI/W108 to WT/WGTI/W147 — open in a new window) were presented and discussed — including nine by the Secretariat. 

Forty-five case studies from economies around the world, each of which illustrates how governments, business and civil society manage their country’s participation in the WTO.This publication was made possible with funding from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

This compilation of forty-five case studies documents disparate experiences among economies in addressing the challenges of participating in the WTO. It demonstrates that success or failure is strongly influenced by how governments and private-sector stakeholders organize themselves at home. The contributors, mainly from developing countries, give examples of participation with lessons for others. They show that when the system is accessed and employed effectively, it can serve the interests of poor and rich countries alike. However, a failure to communicate among interested parties at home often contributes to negative outcomes on the international front. Above all, these case studies demonstrate that the WTO creates a framework within which sovereign decision-making can unleash important opportunities or undermine the potential benefits flowing from a rules-based international environment that promotes open trade.
> More