An appraisal of wto special and differential treatment for least developed countries and its potential implication to the fate of Ethiopian accession

Abstract

Liberalization of international trade is the main underlying objective of WTO. But, the issues as to whether the liberalization of international trade equally benefits economically advanced countries and LDCs have been a subject of bargaining. To this effect, SDT scheme was introduced by WTO so as to create a favorable condition for LDC countries to share from the chalice of international trade by assisting them to fully integrate into the MTS by providing certain advantages like tariff preferences and derogations from rules and obligations. This paper has critically analyzed SDT schemes under WTO in general and its potential implication to the fate of the Ethiopian accession in particular. From the appraisal of SDT provisions for LDCs based on the ways in which they are formulated and implemented, as well as the experiences of acceded countries, the paper identified that, a lot of SDT provisions in WTO Agreements and Decisions did not create any legally binding obligations to act in a way that would advance the LDCs‘ integration into global trade. Prominently, their vagueness and non-binding nature as well as resource demanding conditions attached to the schemes, and the capacity constraint inherent in the LDCs could be mentioned as a stumbling block their effectiveness. The paper then examined the potential implication of the SDT schemes on the fate of Ethiopia‘s accession to WTO. Accordingly, the author found that, it is unlikely that SDT schemes as it stands now will assure Ethiopia‘s integration into international trade and be serve as a tool to achieve its development objectives, owing Ethiopia‘s capacity constraint, non-binding nature and tough conditionalities for accessing the schemes. Hence, the author advances the position that Ethiopia must be more proactive in its accession to WTO than solely relying on the ineffective SDT schemes of the LDCs in the system.