Abstract
In August, 2004, the General Council of WTO adopted the framework for establishing modalities in agriculture negotiation which had been at a deadlock. However, the framework does not show numerical targets and formulas. The framework is no more than a patchwork of main member governments' proposals and it leaves many important problems unsolved. Because there are wide range of views and interests among the member governments in all three pillars of the negotiation - market access, domestic support and export competition. Many governments that want to export their products favour much greater liberalization in agricultural trade, but most governments do not want to open up their markets under pressure to protect their farmers. Rapid increase of the number of regional trade agreements and voices of many developing member countries also make the WTO agriculture negotiation difficult.
