This report helps to identify the extent to which the designation of products as Special Products (SPs) might affect other developing country exporters. It aims to establish the prima facie evidence on the overlap between products that are important to developing countries as exports and those that are important to other developing countries as potential SPs. It provides information on the main developing country exporters and importers, the main products that are traded, and the main trends.
It uses this information to identify the importance for South–South trade of the products which appear most likely to be designated as SPs. Any notable barriers to trade in these products are also flagged. No ‘magic formulas’ are discovered that would allow the legitimate interests of Southern exporters and importers to be reconciled through a simple rule or provision. But the analysis does succeed in narrowing considerably the main areas of potential contention so that they may be resolvable through a limited number of bilateral negotiations.