Special and differential treatment
Special and differential treatment for small and vulnerable countries based on the situational approach
Recognising small and vulnerable countries exposed to trade-related risks
Authors:
W. Corrales-Leal; F. Baritto; S.A. Mohan
Publisher:
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development , 2007
Small countries usually depend more on international trade than other countries and are more exposed to trade-related risks. This paper addresses the issues of special and differential treatment (S&DT) for small and vulnerable economies (SVEs) from the perspective of a Situational Approach. It is structured as follows:
- a discussion of the fundamentals of the situational approach and the trade-supported strategies for sustainable development
- a summary of the process of negotiations that have taken place on S&DT according to the Doha mandate
- a summary of findings and conclusions
Key conclusions include:
- using a rational combination of indicators confirms the existence of a particular disadvantaged situation of SVEs
- the definition of SVE should not be based on a few characteristics, but rather on a combination of various characteristic’s thresholds
- thresholds must reflect the relative disadvantages of countries
