Globalisation - Developing Countries

The new round of global trade talks launched at Doha Qatar in 2001 was dubbed the Doha Development Round. But many developing countries complain they have still not been guaranteed many of the concessions promised by the west three years ago.

The European Union just recently said it would begin to phase out farming subsidies which developing countries argue distort global market prices. Under the Doha agreement developing countries won a deal on patent rules allowing them to buy some cheaper generic drugs if faced with a medical emergency like HIV/AIDS.

However the patenting of other life forms including food products was not addressed by the trade body. This has concerned Dr Vandana Shiva, Indian ecologist and globalisation critic who spoke to Newslink's Jennifer Macey about how globalisation affected the lives of people in developing countries.