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The World Trade Organization's 5th ministerial meeting, to be held at Cancân in September 2003, will take stock of progress made on development issues. The Committee's report identifies three key elements for a successful development round: development-friendly agreements on a range of trade issues; effective participation by developing countries; and flexibility and policy space for developing countries within the WTO's rules. Conclusions reached include the need for substantial reductions in domestic agricultural support, export subsidies and tariffs, so that developing countries have greater trade opportunities. The proposed CAP reforms are a small step in the right direction, but the UK Government must keep up the pressure for further, major reform.

The Committee's report examines the accountability and management of the UK aid budget by the Department for International Development (DFID) based on its 2004 departmental report (Cm. 6214, ISBN 0101621426) published in May 2004. It comments on the UK's development record over the past year and highlights several areas where the DFID could improve its performance. Conclusions drawn include support for the Government's increased aid budget, the announcement on multilateral debt relief, and the progress being made to increase the poverty focus of the UK's bilateral aid budget. Recommendations include: the departmental report should include more information about the poverty focus of multilateral organisations, such as the EU; the roll-out of the Poverty Reduction Budget Support must be evidence-based; and the DFID should improve its 'traffic light' system for showing progress on its public service agreement targets.

Minutes of proceedings Session 2002-03 : [Thursday 14 November 2002 - Tuesday 18 November 2003]

Minutes of proceedings, Session 2004-05 : [Monday 29 November 2004 - Tuesday 5 April 2005]

Minutes of proceedings, Session 2003-04 : [Thursday 27 November 2003 - Tuesday 16 November 2004]

autumn meetings of the World Bank and the IMF : Oral and written evidence, Thursday 6 November 2003, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International Development and Officials

Work of the Committee In 2004 : Second report of session 2004-05, report, together with formal Minutes

Annual Report 2003 : Third report of session 2003-04, report, together with formal Minutes