The WTO Doha Development Round was launched in 2001.
Trade ministers began the negotiations at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. The round was intended to improve global trade rules while giving particular attention to the interests of developing countries. Its agenda included agriculture, industrial goods, services, intellectual property, and development issues.
The negotiations became difficult because major economies disagreed over agricultural subsidies, market access, and industrial tariffs. The Doha Round never reached a comprehensive final agreement, although some separate decisions were adopted during later WTO ministerial conferences.
Doha is often confused with the Uruguay Round, which preceded it and produced the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO. It is also different from the Bali Package of 2013, which produced the WTO’s first multilateral agreement after its creation.