This paper takes an insider's look into the WTO negotiations on subsidies from the July Framework Agreement to the eve of the December 2005 Ministerial Conference. It paints a grim picture. Overall, progress has been slow, and subsidies have received relatively little attention. Fisheries remain the exception, and present the best hope for stronger disciplines. But in other aspects of negotiations on WTO rules, as well as the services talks, subsidies have taken a back seat to other items on the agenda. Meanwhile, in agriculture, which sits at the heart of these negotiations, the negotiations as a whole have been stalled for much of the past year, and recent attempts to kick-start them have largely been frustrated.
