Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries Towards a New Approach in the WTO*

* The views expressed in this paper are personal and should not be attributed to any of the institutions with which the authors are affiliated. Summary This paper discusses options that could be considered in the WTO to provide more favorable—so-called special and differential treatment (SDT)—to small and low-income countries. We argue that SDT should be limited to countries that most need it and that there is therefore a need for differentiation across WTO members, but also that a number of additional steps are needed which would benefit all developing countries. We suggest the following to make SDT more effective and the Doha Round more supportive of development: • A binding commitment by developed countries to abolish export subsidies and NTBs (tariff quotas) and to reduce MFN tariffs on labor-intensive products of export interest to developing countries to no more than 5 percent in 2010, and to no more than 10 percent for agricultural products. All tariffs on manufactures should go to zero by 2015, the target date for the achievement of the MDGs. Liberalization should also extend to developing countries, on the basis of a formula approach. • A binding commitment by developed countries on services to expand temporary access for service providers by a specific amount—e.g., equal to 3 percent of the workforce—and not to restrict cross-border trade (e.g., via telecom channels). • Unilateral action by developed countries to extend preferential market access for LDCs and similar small and low income countries and to simplify eligibility criteria, especially rules of origin upon the conclusion of the Doha negotiations. • Affirmation by the WTO that core disciplines relating to the use of trade policy apply equally to all WTO members • Acceptance of the principle that for small and low income countries 'one size does not fit all' when it comes to domestic regulation and to WTO agreements requiring substantial investment of resources. • Recognition that some WTO agreements need to be adapted to make them more supportive of development, and a consequent willingness to renegotiate these. • Expansion of development assistance to bolster trade capacity in poor countries and strengthening of the linkages between trade-related technical assistance and the mechanisms through which aid priorities are determined in developing countries In practice, calls for specific types of SDT often appear to be motivated by a perception that a certain WTO rule is 'anti-development' and that therefore developing countries should …