Easing Trade Bottlenecks in Landlocked Developing Countries

Without direct access to a sea or ocean and isolated from the world’s largest markets, LLDCs face specific trade bottlenecks, which increase trading costs, lengthen the time to process goods at the border and restrict the movement of goods across borders. Compounded by the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, LLDCs have seen trade decline more sharply and for longer than the rest of the world.

The report demonstrates the vital role the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement and other WTO agreements can play in facilitating trade and in broadening the opportunities for developing countries — and LLDCs in particular — to participate more fully in global value chains.

Published in 2021

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• Foreword
• Key messages
• Chapter 1: Landlocked developing countries and trade bottlenecks
• Chapter 2: COVID-19 and border measures
• Chapter 3: WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement
• Chapter 4: WTO’s SPS Agreement: sanitary and phytosanitary measures
• Chapter 5: WTO’s TBT Agreement: technical barriers to trade
• Chapter 6: Trade profiles of landlocked developing countries
• Chapter 7: Building trade capacity in landlocked developing countries
• Chapter 8: Recommendations
• Bibliography
• Abbreviations