The next World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference will take place in Buenos Aires from the 10 to 13 December 2017. This will be the 11th Ministerial (MC11) since the start of the WTO and the 7th since the start of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. The negotiations have so far failed to conclude with a comprehensive deal on agriculture, non-agricultural market access, and goods and services. Despite small achievements in past rounds (MC9 in Bali and MC10 in Nairobi), the negotiations have so far also failed to lead to improvements in WTO rules that would make world trade freer, as well as help the global economy and developing countries in particular.

The summary paper and three background papers examine the possible impact of current negotiating proposals in three main areas (agriculture, ecommerce and fisheries) that are currently under discussion in the run-up to MC11. They explore what is at stake in MC11 negotiations; provide an overview of the different issues and negotiating positions; and discuss how these could potentially affect development.