Current Affairs - National - Discussion

The Doha Round of WTO negotiations began in 2001 with the goal of reforming international trade rules by reducing tariffs and addressing issues like agricultural subsidies and industrial barriers. Despite ambitious objectives, the negotiations ultimately collapsed due to deep divisions between developed and developing countries. Only a partial agreement on fisheries has been achieved. The failure of the Doha Round revealed the difficulties within the WTO’s consensus-based system and highlighted the broader shift toward bilateral and regional trade agreements, weakening the influence of multilateral trade mechanisms.