12th March 2008
Tropical and Diversification Products: Strategic Options for Developing Countries
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The importance of tropical products for developing countries is undeniable: the fifteen main tropical products account for 37 percent of developing countries’ incoming foreign currency from agricultural exports. This proportion reaches 62 percent for low income developing countries. Many of these products are grown primarily by small farmers in developing countries – as in the case of coffee, cocoa, tobacco and cotton.
Others are vital in the generation of rural employment (i.e. sugar, rubber and rice). Therefore, besides their considerable contribution to foreign currency generation, they also play an important role from a social point of view. Yet, there have been persistent differences among trade negotiators at international and regional levels on how to liberalise trade in tropical products while also addressing the effects of trade preference erosion. The two mandates have placed them squarely in opposing camps.
In an effort to contribute to a knowledge-based discussion in this area, ICTSD commissioned Santiago Perry, from the Foundation for Participatory and Sustainable Development of Small Farmers, to author a piece reflecting this debate. This study intends to provide strategic options for developing countries seeking “fullest liberalisation of trade in tropical and diversification products” under the WTO while taking into account the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries that have expressed concerns that a multilateral elimination of tariffs might result in the loss of their preferential access to the markets of developed countries.
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