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 on the reduction of agricultural support (Art. 15.2).
• LDCs and net food importing countries (NFIDCs) have special flexibilities under the Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on LDCs and NFIDCs (Art. 16; Decision adopted by the Trade Negotiations Committee at the Uruguay Round; list of beneficiaries is contained in G/AG/5/Rev.12, March 2023).

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 offered LDCs and NFIDCs more favourable treatment: i) LDCs and NFIDCs may provide certain agricultural export subsidies until 2030; ii) LDCs and NFIDCs enjoy longer repayment periods for export financing support iii)  redressing short and/or long term food deficit requirements or insufficient agricultural production situations which give rise to chronic hunger and malnutrition in LDCs and NFIDCs is one of the exceptions allowing WTO members to monetize international food  aid. 

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.11.8).
• 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).

Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures

• LDCs (and countries with GNI per capita below $1,000 in constant 1990 dollars) are exempted from the prohibition of export subsidies (Art. 27.2 and Annex VII (a) of the Agreement and paragraph 10.1 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns (WT/MIN(01)/17))).

Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)

• Longer deadlines under the early warning mechanism (in case an LDC has difficulties in implementing measures in categories B and C) (Art. 17).
  Longer time frame (4 years rather than 18 months) for new implementation dates for measures shifted from category B to category C before approval from the Trade Facilitation Committee is required (Art. 19) .
  LDCs benefit from longer grace periods for dispute settlement (8 years from the implementation of category B or C measures) (Art. 20).

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

• Exemption from applying all substantive TRIPS standards until 1 July 2034 (Art. 66.1, latest extension IP/C/88).
• Exemption from providing protection for pharmaceutical patents, from providing the possibility of filing mailbox applications and from granting exclusive marketing rights until 1 January 2033 (IP/C/73 and WT/L/971).  See also Doha Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and public health).
• Waiver from notification requirements for issuing compulsory licenses for exports of pharmaceutical products to LDCs or other countries with insufficient manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector (Art. 31 bis). 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. 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.
• Developed country members are to provide incentives to encourage the transfer of technology to LDCs (Art. 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).

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 can 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

• LDCs may have a longer period between trade policy reviews than other countries (Annex 3).