Introduction To Part IV - Trade And Development

Abstract

The trade strategies pursued by developing countries during the 1950s- 1960s gave rise to requests for changes in the multilateral trading system. The introduction of Part IV into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) reacted to the need to introduce an International trade policy which takes account of the situation, concerns and needs of developing countries. Its principle of non-reciprocity in trade negotiations relating to developing countries remains one of the main contributions to international trading relations. Along with Arts XVIII and XXVIII, Part IV was the precursor to the special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing countries in the multilateral trading system. The part IV is mainly implemented through preferential arrangements under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which was negotiated and adopted in UNCTAD in 1970, or under the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)-administered Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP). Keywords: Article XXVIII; GATT; International trade policy; special and differential treatment (SDT); UNCTAD