(Guardian) The first global trade deal since the creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) nearly two decades ago has been condemned by anti-poverty groups as a boost for big business at the expense of developing nations.
After 12 years of talks, an agreement drafted by the WTO director general, Roberto Azevêdo, was signed in Bali by ministers from the body's 159 member countries on Friday after last-minute concessions to India over food subsidies.
Azevêdo shed tears during the summit's closing ceremony on Saturday as he thanked the host nation, Indonesia, and his wife.
"For the first time in our history, the WTO has truly delivered" on large-scale negotiations, he said.
"This time the entire membership came together. We have put the 'world' back in World Trade Organisation," he said. "We're back in business … Bali is just the beginning."
An agreement with India, which has sought protection for its poorest farmers from US firms dumping surplus agricultural produce, was crucial to a comprehensive deal being struck at the meeting. The talks were also threatened at the 11th hour when Cuba objected to removal of a reference to the decades-long US trade embargo that Cuba wants lifted.
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