GENERAL AGREEMENT ON. COM.TD/W/446 TARIFFS AND TRADE 30 October particularly on commercial policy measures taken recently by their

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "GENERAL AGREEMENT ON. COM.TD/W/446 TARIFFS AND TRADE 30 October particularly on commercial policy measures taken recently by their"

Barnard Wilcox
5 years ago
Views:

1 RESTRCTED GENERAL AGREEMENT ON COM.TD/W/6 TARFFS AND TRADE 30 October 1986 Limited Distribution Committee on Trde nd Development Sixtieth Session 11, 12 nd 1 November 1986 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS RELATNG TO TRADE NTERESTS OF LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRES 1. This note reviews recent developments relting to the trde interests of lest-developed countries. Section contins summry of recent informtion on the trde nd pyments position of lest-developed countries, relting in prticulr to the evolution of externl trde, foreign exchnge ernings, nd movements in export prices. n Section re outlined number of relevnt developments in commercil policy. This is followed in Section by short outline of technicl ssistnce ctivities in the secretrit in fvour of lest-developed countries. 2. Further informtion on GATT ctivities relevnt to trde interests of developing countries, including the lest-developed, is vilble in documents prepred by the secretrit relting to the implementtion of Prt V of the Generl Agreement nd of the provisions of the Enbling Cluse. n prticulr, documents prepred for Prt V consulttions nd consulttions on tropicl products, documents of the Sub-Committee on Protective Mesures, the GATT Council nd other GATT committees nd bodies my be consulted. 3. Delegtions might wish to provide relevnt dditionl informtion, prticulrly on commercil policy mesures tken recently by their uthorities or which re being prepred or contemplted. SECTON : FOREGN TRADE AND PAYMENTS The group of lest-developed countries registered record deficits on the merchndise trde ccount in 1980 nd, especilly, in 1981 (Chrt ). The imblnce ws reduced by one-fifth in the three following yers, minly s result of lower imports in nd of reltively strong export growth in 198. n 1985 import demnd incresed while receipts from merchndise exports were smller nd, ccording to preliminry estimtes, the combined trde deficit of the group widened gin. Since in most lest-developed countries merchndise exports remin concentrted on few primry products, the evolution of interntionl commodity prices is one key determinnt of export levels. Trends in the prices of number of products weighing hevily in those countries' ggregte export bsket re shown in Chrt. Price developments plyed prominent role in the 198 export revivl, which cn be trced bck to shrp price increses for few items (e.g., te, jute, coco). Also, generl drop in severl commodity prices since erly-1985 confirms reports on ltely declining export ernings Exports of food nd griculturl rw mterils ccount for bout one-hlf of those countries' ggregte exports.

Pge 2 On the import side, the decrese in world fuel prices fter 1981, lso pictured in Chrt, undoubtedly helped the lest-developed group to loyer their import bills without scrificing import quntities

2 Pge 2 On the import side, the decrese in world fuel prices fter 1981, lso pictured in Chrt, undoubtedly helped the lest-developed group to loyer their import bills without scrificing import quntities too much. But fuel imports, though essentil, often re not lrge items in the imports of these non-energy-intensive economies. Developments in import prices of food (in prticulr, cerels) nd mnufctures, which together mke up over three-qurters of totl merchndise imports in most of these countries, hve much lrger impct on the trde blnce. Food import prices fell substntilly in the erly-1980s but hve remined roughly unchnged since then. Developed countries' export unit vlues of mnufctures hve registered mrked movements; while in the first qurter of 1985 they were 20 per cent lower thn in 1980, in dollr terms, by the first qurter of 1986 they hd recovered ll the ground lost (see Chrt ). Of course, the trde performnce of group of countries is rrely eqully shred by ll individul members, the more so when the group is lrge nd consists of economies of different size nd with heterogeneous trde structures. Tble 1 offers view of the vriety of individul trde responses in the lst five yers, s well s estimtes of the vlue of ech lest-developed country's imports nd exports in n 1985, the enlrged merchndise trde deficit brought bout incresed needs for externl finncing in prcticlly ll lest-developed countries, s in most of them merchndise trde remins the mjor item in the current ccount. SECTON : Developments in commercil policy Recent mesures in fvour of the lest-developed countries Effective 1 Jnury 1986 Vnut hs been dded to the Austrin list of lest-developed countries. Finlnd hs notified tht crpets with surfce of jute nd/or other textile bsed fibres nd/or mnil hemp, or of sisl nd/or other fibres of the gve fmily (ex 58.02) hve been included in the GSP scheme exclusively in fvour of the lest-developed countries. Exports of such products from lest-developed countries into Finlnd re henceforth duty- nd quot-free. Other products which hve been dded in fvour of the lest-developed countries re: sheep nd lmbskin lether; got nd kidskin lether; ex shopping bgs of jute; ex hnging flower pots mde with mcrme-technique. t hs been notified tht with effect from 1 Jnury 1986 the quntittive restrictions mintined by Frnce on scks nd bgs, of kind used for the pcking of goods (of jute) - CCCN A, hve been superseded by regime without quntittive limittions. Scks nd bgs of jute re products of mjor export interest to Bngldesh nd some other lest-developed countries. 1 t should be stressed, however, tht some countries in the group export petroleum products nd hve been dversely ffected by lower export prices. 2n few lest-developed countries, unfvourble results on the merchndise trde front were compounded by lower emigrnts' remittnces due to recession in the Gulf oil-producing economies.

3 Pge 3 Jpn hs notified the extension of its GSP scheme to cover number of new tropicl nd griculturl products. t implies tht on these products lest-developed countries now enjoy duty- nd quot-free ccess. They include: blood rk shell (ex 03.03) - GSP 8 per cent; jellyfish (ex 0.07) - GSP 8 per cent; ppy (ex 08.09) - GSP 3 per cent. Other commercil policy mesures of interest to lest-developed countries Quntittive restrictions pplied by Jpn on imports of lether nd lether footwer hve been eliminted s from 1 April 1986, nd globl triff quot system bsed on quntity hs been estblished (L/5978). n recent months the Government of New Zelnd hs notified number of mesures to liberlize nd rtionlize its imports control system nd mong the products concerned re mny of export interest to lest-developed countries. Between 1 July 1985 nd Mrch 1986 bout 150 items were exempted from import licensing (NTM/W/16/Add.1). Among these items re the following which re of export interest to lest-developed countries: coco pste (in bulk or in block) whether or not deftted (CCCN 18.03); fruit nd vegetble juices (13 items under CCCN 20.07); lether other thn deerskin lether ( :69K); furskin, other thn sheep nd lmb nd rbbit ( ); nrrow woven fbrics, etc., wholly of cotton, etc. s my be pproved by the Minister, etc. ( ); twine, etc., s my be pproved by the Minister ( ). n My 1986 the Government of New Zelnd further notified its pln to trnsfer 30 product ctegories currently subject to import licensing to license on demnd sttus effective 1 July The products ffected include coffee, coco, preserved fruits nd vegetbles, fruit nd vegetble juices nd plywood which re of export interest to some lest-developed countries (L/560/Add.18/Suppl.1). As of 1 Jnury 1986 Norwy hs liberlized number of products which were previously subject to import licensing requirements. Among these products re the following which re of export interest to lest-developed countries: ex stchels, ruckscks; ex tents; ex men's nd boys' undergrments; ties, bow ties nd crvts. SECTON : Technicl ssistnce to lest-developed countries The lest-developed countries hve continued to benefit from the technicl ssistnce fcilities nd progrmmes of the GATT secretrit nd specil ttention hs been given to their needs. The ssistnce hs lrgely tken the form of meeting d hoc requests from lest-developed countries fo- dt nd informtion on trde flows, triffs nd non-triff mesures. At the request of the Government of Bngldesh GATT seminr ws held in Dkr for officils of vrious ministries nd governmentl bodies. n the course of the yer officils from Equtoril Guine, Mlwi nd Tnzni ttended the GATT commercil policy course held in Genev.

4 Pge CHART 17 TRADE OF THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRES mports cij (J Exports Sources: See Tble 1.

5 'b -, = < _ i2 5 H====X= = '_ = b_ = SE = = =Z Gk= CHART NTERNATONAL PRCES OF MAN PRODUCTS TRADED BY THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRES ( , nd qurterly ) == W==Z;==== _,, \ ==i=== _ ==ta==-_t--_ no _7 = 1 == A_ i, k i w_ AK 7sr Yw 6/3 6/ 85/1 85/2 85/3 85/ 65/7 COM.TD/W/6 Pge 5 1 Coffee 0 Coco * T no /3 6/ 65/1 65/2 65/3 65/ 60/1 Sugr &9 &Undhuts Gudhut oil

6 CHART Pge 6 NTERNATONAL PRCES OF MAN PRODUCTS TRADED BY THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRES (cont'd) ( , nd qurterly ) Wo MO0 00 X X X X k. A " 7J /3 8/ W/ 85/2 85/3 85/ Cotton Jute MMs no 70# y A 11 \ \ lb N1""'d / - \ 's ( -- \.- z -1? xn 108 MM 8/3 8/ e/3 / m.7 13 FUeSS Export unit vlues of developed countries. Source: UN, Monthly Bulletin of Sttistics.

7 Pge 7 TABLE 1.- FOREGN MERCHANDSE TRADE OF THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRES, mports c.i.f Averge nnul percentge chnge Million dollrs ALL LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRES (15731) Afghnistn Bngldesh Benin Bhutn Botswn Burk n Fso Burundi Cpe Verde Centrl Africn Republic Chd Comoros Djibouti Equtoril Guine Ethiopi Gmbi Guine Guine Bissu Hiti Lo People's Dem. Rep. Lesotho Mlwi Mldives Mli Nepl Niger Rwnd Smo So Tome nd Principe Sierr Leone Somli Sudn Togo Ugnd United Rep. of Tnzni Yemen Arb Republic Yemen Democrtic Rrp. (700) (90) (700) (270) (110) (170) (30) (270) (20) (1250) (110) (370) (50) (00) (70) (600) (55) (330) (235) (7) (150) (100) (1570) (390) (1600) Exports f.o.b Averge nnul percentge chnge million dollrs (6921) (710) (152) (600) (65) () (90) (20) (20) (20) (355) (35) (65) (10) (180) (35) (20) (20) (225) (116) (3) (190) (50) (510) (190) (00) (105) Dt for most recent periods re bsed primrily on prtners' returns. Sources: MF, Direction of Trde nd nterntionl Finncil Sttistics; UN, Monthly Bulletin of Sttistics; nd UNCTAD, Hndbook of nterntionl Trde nd Development Sttistics.

Chapter 02: International Flow of Funds

Chapter 02: International Flow of Funds Chpter 02: Interntionl Flow of Funds 1. Recently, the U.S. experienced n nnul lnce of trde representing.. lrge surplus (exceeding $100 illion). smll surplus c. level of zero d. deficit d 2. A high home