The November 2001 Declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, provides the mandate for negotiations on a range of subjects, and other work including issues concerning the implementation of the present agreements.
The negotiations take place in the Trade Negotiations Committee and its subsidiaries. Other work under the work program takes place in other WTO councils and committees.
After the initial impasse at the Cancun Ministerial Conference, WTO Members reached understanding, known as the July Package, in July 2004, on several key issues that moved the Doha negotiations forward.
The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Hong Kong, China, December 13-18, 2005. Among the results of the meetings, as laid out in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, were an agreement to end agricultural export subsidies by 2013, export subsidies on cotton by 2006, dates to agree on negotiating modalities for agriculture and non-agricultural market access by April 2006 and then submitting schedules of commitments by July 2006, and deadlines for tabling revised services offers by July 2006 and final offers by October 2006.
Key documents related to the Doha Declaration: