The name is absent

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It is evident that many developing countries face a quandary in regard to such issues. On the one
hand, from a global viewpoint, it appears entirely reasonable that these countries should subscribe to rules
that protect the market-opening commitments they have made in furtherance of their own trade
objectives. On the other hand, many do not want to forego the use of such domestic policy instruments
for national development. The appropriate line of division between trade and development measures has
not yet been satisfactorily drawn in the WTO agreements.¹⁵

The Agreement on TRIPS, was, of course, a particularly egregious instance of a new condition
being introduced into the trading system of rules and procedures without sufficient consultation among
countries and without an adequate basis of common consent. Taken by itself, the Agreement lacked for
many countries any clear evidence of reciprocal benefit — and, indeed, the benefit by any count was
negative for some. Further, until later modified, it rode rough shod over the public goods preferences of
many countries for the health of their populations. Proposals to incorporate labor or environmental
standards into the WTO rules, with the intent of using trade measures to enforce compliance, have
likewise been seen by many developing countries as an intrusion into the conduct of their own social
policies. Though often subscribing voluntarily to international conventions on labor or environmental
standards, they do not accept that the global trading system should be used as an indirect means of
enforcement. Moreover, they fear that the incorporation of such standards would be open to protectionist
abuse.

Many developing countries have also complained that there has been insufficient appreciation of
the practical problems that they face in implementation of new rules. It has, for instance, often proved
burdensome for developing countries to have to comply with technical standards that are established by
the developed countries and that require progressively more complex certification and testing procedures.

The WTO has recognized these practical problems in some degree by the provisions attached to

¹⁵In rule formation during the Uruguay Round, the developed countries introduced the idea that, if a policy measure
was trade related, it was a legitimate subject for rule formation. That was perhaps consistent with the aim of global
market integration but far too all-inclusive. For developing countries, a better rule of thumb would be whether the
domestic policy measures cause material injury to a trading partner.

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