Special treatment regarding obligations and flexibilities under WTO rules

Agreement

Provisions, related decisions and instruments

Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments Provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

• LDCs can use simplified procedures when invoking trade restrictions for balance-of-payment reasons (paragraph 8 and 9).

Agreement on Agriculture and Decisions:

• LDCs are exempt from undertaking commitments in agriculture (Art. 15.2).
• LDCs and NFIDCs have special flexibilities under the Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on LDCs and NFIDCs (Art. 16).

Related:

• LDCs are required to notify the WTO less frequently on their domestic support (every 2 years, while other WTO members are required to do son on an annual basis) (Decision G/AG/2 of the Committee on Agriculture, on Notification requirements and formats).
• The adoption of the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition in 2015 with a view to eliminate agricultural export subsidies offered LDCs and NFIDCs a more favourable treatment: i) LDCs and NFIDCs can provide certain agricultural export subsidies until 2030; ii) LDCs and NFIDCs enjoy longer repayment periods for export financing support iii) LDCs and NFIDCs can benefit from the monetization of international food aid to redress food deficit requirements or to address insufficient agricultural production that give rise to chronic hunger and malnutrition.

Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures

• WTO Members are to take particular account of LDCs in preparing and applying SPS measures (Art. 10).

Related:

• The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), which responds to the provisions of Article 9 on technical assistance, has a target of dedicating at least 40% of total project financing to LDCs or Other Low-Income Countries. In terms of co-financing, beneficiaries from LDCs and OLICs contribute at least 10% of the requested STDF contribution to a project, as opposed to 20% for lower-middle-income countries and 60% for upper-middle-income countries (STDF Operational Rules). In 2022, the STDF established a transition mechanism for countries graduated from LDC status, which allows for LDC graduates to continue to benefit from the "10% contribution requirement for LDCs" for a period of three years following graduation.
• The ePing notification alert system provides countries with timely access to notifications under the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). It is available to all countries but especially geared towards meeting the needs of LDCs.

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

• WTO members are to give priority to the needs of LDCs when providing advice and technical assistance to other Members (Art.11).
• The TBT Committee is required to take into account special problems of LDCs in granting time-limited exceptions under the TBT Agreement (Art. 12.8).

General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)

• LDCs are given special priority with a view to increasing their participation in services trade, including through the liberalization of market access in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to them. LDCs are entitled to liberalize at a more cautious pace than other members (Art. IV:3).
• Negotiating guidelines were to establish modalities for the special treatment for LDCs under the provisions of Article IV:3 (Art. XIX:3).

Related:

• In 2003, specific modalities for the treatment of LDCs were adopted during the Doha negotiations.
• In 2011, WTO members adopted the LDC Services Waiver, which allows members to provide preferential treatment to LDC services and service suppliers. It is currently valid until 2030.

Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures

• LDCs are exempted from the prohibition of export subsidies (Art. 27.2 and Annex VII (a) of the Agreement)

Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)

• The S&D provisions in the TFA allow each LDC to determine when they will implement each of the individual provisions (category B and C) as well as those provisions for which they will need technical assistance and support for capacity building (category C). The TFA provides for longer timeframes for LDCs. For instance, the definitive implementation date for LDCs to submit category C commitments is 22 August 2022.
• The TFA allows LDCs to benefit from greater flexibility in extending implementation dates of category B or C commitments under the Early Warning Mechanism. (Article 17).
• The TFA allows LDCs to benefit from an automatic extension for shifting categories from B to C if the additional time does not exceed four years beyond the original notification date (Article 19).
• LDCs benefit from longer grace periods for dispute settlement: six years for category A commitments and eight years for category B and C (Article 20).

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

• Under Art. 66.1, LDCs benefitted from an 11-year transition period to implement the TRIPS agreement. The original transition period ended in 2006 and has since been extended three times, with the latest extension set until 1 July 2034 or the date of graduation from the LDC category, whichever is first.

Related: In addition to the general transition period LDCs also benefit from the transition period for pharmaceutical products (Doha Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and public health). This period has been extended twice with the latest extension lasting until 1 January 2033 or until the date of graduation from the LDC status, whichever comes first. LDCs are exempt from providing protection for pharmaceutical patents, from providing the possibility of filing mailbox applications and from granting exclusive marketing rights.

• Developed country members are to provide incentives to encourage the transfer of technology to LDCs (Article 66.2)

Related: Developed country members are required to submit annual reports on actions taken or planned pursuant to their commitments under Article 66.2. For more information, see the e-TRIPS section on Reports by Developed Country Members on the implementation of TRIPS Art. 66.2 (re. Technology Transfer to LDCs)

• The TRIPS amendment, which entered into force in 2017, allows the use of compulsory licensing for export of pharmaceuticals to countries with limited manufacturing capacity (Art. 31 bis).
  
  • A developing country member or LDC that produces or imports pharmaceuticals under compulsory licences and which is party to a regional trade agreement (RTA) in which at least half of the members are LDCs can export the pharmaceuticals to other members of the RTA that share the same health problem without any further notification under the system.
  • When notifying its need for a pharmaceutical, an importing WTO member is required to  confirm that it has insufficient or no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector. LDCs are exempt from that requirement as they are deemed to have insufficient manufacturing capacity.

Dispute settlement

• Particular consideration should be given to the special situation of LDCs in all stages of a dispute involving an LDC. Members should exercise due restraint in raising matters involving an LDC (Art. 24.1)
• LDCs may request use of the good offices, conciliation and mediation of the Director-General or the Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body. (Art. 24.2)
• The WTO Ministerial Decision on Smooth Transition Support Measures in Favour of Countries Graduated from the LDC Category (WT/MIN(24)/34 - WT/L/1189), adopted in 2024, establishes that countries that graduate continue to benefit from these measures for three years after graduation.

Trade Policy Review Mechanism

• Greater flexibility is given to LDCs concerning the frequency of their reviews and particular attention is given to LDCs in the provision of technical assistance by the Secretariat (Annex C, WT/L/1014)
• At the request of developing country Members, and in particular LDCs, the WTO Secretariat is required to make available technical assistance, taking into account particular difficulties of LDCs in compiling their reports (Annex D).