The World Trade Organisation and agricultural trade reform

This paper analyses the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as an international organisation and its relationship to the reform of international trade in agriculture. The membership and modes of decision making are outlined with special relevance to trade in agriculture. The doctrine of 'non-trade concerns' (NTC) is open-ended and has not yet been addressed by the WTO in precise terms. For the current Doha Agenda trade negotiations to succeed, there must be agreement on the parameters and the definition of NTC.