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DEVELOPMENT:
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE The WTO Agreements contain provisions which give developing countries special rights. These are called “special and differential treatment” provisions. The Ministers in Doha, at the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference mandated the Committee on Trade and Development to examine these special and differential treatment provisions.
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Main legal
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News about the work of the Trade and Development Committee on Special and Differential Treatment provisions.
13–18 December 2005, Hong Kong Ministerial Conference: Ministers agree
on declaration that ‘puts Round back on track’
26
November 2005: Lamy submits draft ministerial text for Hong Kong
1
August 2004: Round-the-clock meetings produce ‘historic’ breakthrough > 24 July 2002: the Committee on Trade and Development recommended to the General Council the establishment of a “monitoring mechanism” and the extension of the deadline for final recommendations. The General Council approved the CTD recommendations on 31 July 2002.
Introduction back to top The WTO Agreements contain special provisions which give developing countries special rights and which give developed countries the possibility to treat developing countries more favorably than other WTO Members. These special provisions include, for example, longer time periods for implementing Agreements and commitments or measures to increase trading opportunities for developing countries. These provisions are referred to as “special and differential treatment” provisions. The special provisions include:
The WTO Secretariat has made several compilations of the special and differential provisions and their use.
In the Doha Declaration, member governments agreed that all special and differential treatment provisions should be reviewed with a view to strengthening them and making them more effective, and operational. More specifically, the declaration (together with the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns) mandates the Committee on Trade and Development to identify which of those special and differential treatment provisions are mandatory, and to consider the legal and practical implications of making mandatory those which are currently non-binding. In addition, the Committee is to consider ways in which developing countries, particularly the LDCs, may be assisted to make best use of special and differential treatment.
On 1 February 2002, the Trade Negotiations Committee agreed that the mandate from paragraph 44 of the 4th Ministerial Declaration should be carried out by the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) in Special Sessions. The CTD meets in Special Sessions to examine the issue of Special and Differential provisions. Current chairperson of the CTD Special Sessions. Reports
of the meetings are always issued after each Special Session of the
Committee on Trade and Development. They are called “the minutes”
of the meeting. These reports are generally available to the public
six months after they have been issued.
The Agreement Establishing the WTO back to topThe Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (also known as “the WTO Agreement”, pdf format 144KB) in its chapeau cites sustainable economic development as one of the objectives of the WTO. It also specifies that international trade should benefit the economic development of developing and least-developed countries.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) — Goods back to top GATT Article XVIII (download in pdf format, 353KB), to be read in conjunction with the Decision on Safeguard action for Development Purposes (download in MS Word format, 4 pages, 30KB) and the Declaration on Trade Measures Taken for Balance-of-payments Purposes (download in MS Word format, 7 pages, 19KB), both of 28 November 1979, and the Understanding on the Balance-of Payments Provisions of the GATT 1994 (download in MS Word format, 5 pages, 38KB), gives developing countries the right to restrict imports, if doing so would promote the establishment or maintenance of a particular industry, or assist in cases of balance-of-payments difficulties. Part IV of the GATT (download in pdf format, 353KB) includes provisions on the concept of non-reciprocal preferential treatment for developing countries — when developed countries grant trade concessions to developing countries they should not expect the developing countries to make matching offers in return. However, developing countries claim that Part IV has been without practical value as it does not contain any obligations for developed countries.
Enabling Clause for developing countries (goods) back to top The Enabling Clause officially called the “Decision on Differential and More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries”, was adopted under GATT in 1979 and enables developed members to give differential and more favorable treatment to developing countries. The Enabling Clause is the WTO legal basis for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Under the GSP, developed countries offer non-reciprocal preferential treatment (such as zero or low duties on imports) to products originating in developing countries. Preference-giving countries unilaterally determine which countries and which products are included in their schemes. The Enabling Clause is also the legal basis for regional arrangements among developing countries and for the Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP), under which a number of developing countries exchange trade concessions among themselves. For more information about the GSP and the GSTP, see the UNCTAD website, (opens in a new window).
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) back to top Article IV of the GATS (download in pdf format, 175KB) aims at increasing the participation of developing countries in world trade. It refers, among other things, to strengthening the domestic services competitiveness of developing countries through access to technology and improving their access to information networks.
Article XII
allows developing countries
and countries in transition to restrict trade in services for
reasons of balance-of-payment difficulties.
Article 66 of the TRIPS Agreement (download in pdf format, 194KB) provides least-developed countries with a longer time-frame to implement all the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement and encourages technology transfer. Article 67 refers to the provisions of technical assistance. Waivers back to top Going beyond legal provisions stated explicitly in WTO agreements, actions in favor of developing countries, individually or as a group, may also be taken under “waivers” from the main WTO rules. These waivers are granted by the General Council according to procedures set out in Article IX:3 of the Agreement Establishing the WTO (download in pdf format, 205KB). Recent examples of waivers include the EC/France Trading Arrangements with Morocco, the United States' Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), the Canadian Tariff Treatment for Commonwealth Caribbean Countries (CARIBCAN), the United States' Andean Trade Preference Act, and the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement (on which were decisions were taken at the 4th Ministerial Meeting; see WT/MIN(01)/15 and WT/MIN(01)/16). The June 1999 General Council Decision on Waiver regarding Preferential Tariff Treatment for Least-Developed Countries (download in MS Word format, 2 pages, 35KB) allows developing country members to provide preferential tariff treatment to products of least developed countries. |
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