Normative Influences of "Special and Differential Treatment" on North-South RTAs

Yanai Akiko

No 197, IDE Discussion Papers from Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO)

Abstract: Recently, there has been a surge in bilateral and regional trade arrangements betweendeveloped and developing countries, which are known as North-South RTAs. Under thecurrent legal system of the WTO, North-South RTAs are governed by Article XXIV of theGATT or Article V of the GATS, which means such RTAs must be reciprocal and must coversubstantially all the trade. On the other hand, there is another category of rules on RTAsbased on the so-called Enabling Clause, which, in exceptional circumstances, providesspecial and differential treatment (SDT) for RTAs among developing countries. This paperconsiders the applicability of the SDT concept to North-South RTAs by examining why ruleson RTAs and the concept of SDT were incorporated into the GATT/WTO legal framework soas to permit the derogation of most-favored-nation (MFN) obligations.

Keywords: Preferential treatment; Regional trade agreement; WTO; Developing countries; Developed countries; International trade; International agreements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F15 K33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
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Published in IDE Discussion Paper = IDE Discussion Paper, No. 197. 2009-03-01

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