The International Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1919 to promote trade and investment as a vehicle to spread peace and prosperity. ICC was involved in the creation of the Bretton Woods system and in 9 successive rounds of GATT/WTO negotiations. In keeping with this historic mission ICC is leading a business initiative to define a new, post-Round agenda for trade negotiations which can result in a Doha victory.
The Doha Development Agenda negotiations (Doha Round) were launched at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference, in Doha Qatar 9-11 November 2001. After ten years of postponed deadlines the negotiations have reached a lasting stalemate. WTO members however are unlikely to declare the Round is dead. For the first time in 60 years the multilateral trade system is at a standstill. Meanwhile countries are having increasing recourse to protectionist measures, with de-globalization and the use of trade barriers being brandished in many countries as a viable economic alternative to the rules based global trade liberalization.
The WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has stated that the top-down approach to trade negotiations, with governments defining the negotiations agenda and priorities, is not working. Meanwhile, global trade remains the mainstay of the world economy. While business has been a strong supporter of the Doha Round, there has been little active engagement by business in the negotiating process. A bottom-up approach whereby business helps to define a new trade agenda for the 21
ICC will mobilize its international business network to define the agenda for a Doha victory, and work with governments for the implementation of this new approach to grade negotations. In the process, ICC will actively promote the effectiveness of international trade and investment as a motor for economic growth and job creation.