In July, negotiators at the World Trade Organisation released proposals aimed at concluding the Doha Development round of trade talks. While a deal is badly needed to redress the injustices that exist in world trade rules and help developing countries benefit from globalisation, Oxfam does not believe that the new proposals offer a good way forward.

If these proposals were adopted, developed countries would be able to keep protecting their farmers with an array of barriers including exemption from tariff cuts for so-called senstive products, and strict health and saftey standards for developing countries' imports. They would also be able to keep paying very high agricultural subsdies because despite the hype of apparent concessions from the US and EU, proposed cuts are unlikely to bite into current spending.

Meanwhile, developing countries would be obliged to make deeper - not lesser - cuts to their industrial tariffs than rich countries, leading to job losses and undermining future industrial development. This scenario is an ironic reversal of what developing countries were promised at the beginning of the round.

Negotiations are due to restart in September, with these proposals as a starting point. Oxfam believes that an agreement at the WTO will only be worth signing when rich countries keep their promises and get serious about reforming trade rules to boost development.