Integrating the Least Developed Countries into the World Trading System : The Current Impact of EU Preferences under Everything but Arms
Trade preferences are a key element in industrial countries' efforts to assist the integration of least developed countries (LDCs) into the world economy. Brenton provides an initial evaluation of the impact of the European Union's recent...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/04/2306081/integrating-least-developed-countries-world-trading-system-current-impact-eu-preferences-under-everything-arms http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18259 |
| Summary: | Trade preferences are a key element in
industrial countries' efforts to assist the integration
of least developed countries (LDCs) into the world economy.
Brenton provides an initial evaluation of the impact of the
European Union's recently introduced "Everything
but Arms" (EBA) initiative on the products currently
exported by the LDCs. He shows that the changes introduced
by the EBA initiative in 2001 are relatively minor for
currently exported products, primarily because over 99
percent of EU imports from the LDCs are in products which
the EU had already liberalized, and the complete removal of
barriers to the key remaining products-rice, sugar, and
bananas-has been delayed. Brenton looks at the role EU
preferences to LDCs in general have been playing and could
play in assisting the integration of the LDCs. He shows that
there is considerable variation across countries in the
potential impact that EU preferences can have given current
export structures. There is a group of LDCs for whom EU
trade preferences on existing exports are not significant
since these exports are mainly of products where the
most-favored-nation duty is zero. Export diversification is
the key issue for these countries. For other LDCs, EU
preferences have the potential to provide a more substantial
impact on trade. However, the author shows that only 50
percent of EU imports from non-ACP (Africa, Caribbean, and
Pacific) LDCs which are eligible actually request
preferential access to the EU. The prime suspect for this
low level of use are the rules of origin, both the
restrictiveness of the requirements on sufficient processing
and the costs and difficulties of providing the necessary
documentation. More simple rules of origin are likely to
enhance the impact of EU trade preferences in terms of
improving market access and in stimulating diversification
toward a broader range of exports. |
|---|