Exports from developing countries continue to face a variety of specific challenges, ranging from tariff escalation, preference erosion and non-tariff barriers to price volatility. While previous rounds of trade negotiations have led to some progress in reducing trade barriers for tropical products, significant obstacles still remain.
ICTSD’s research and dialogues in this area have focused particularly on the barriers to the liberalisation of tropical products, and sought to promote greater convergence between the negotiating positions of countries that would benefit from liberalisation and those that currently benefit from trade preferences. Increasingly, the project is also exploring more broadly the nature of the challenges facing the major export sectors in developing countries.