The Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) has announced its initiatives in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea, and Senegal aimed at enhancing Least Developed Countries' (LDCs) capabilities in agricultural exports. This announcement follows discussions with members who also received updates from the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), which allocates approximately 60 percent of its resources to supporting LDCs. According to STDF, their projects have contributed to improving product quality, decreasing chemical and fertilizer usage, and enhancing understanding of post-harvest practices.
Throughout the session, speakers identified several significant challenges faced by LDCs, including regulatory changes, informal trading, and climate change, which impact their sanitary and phytosanitary capacities. Emphasizing the necessity of collaboration among government bodies, private sectors, and academic representatives was seen as crucial to overcoming these challenges. Speakers advocated for leveraging skills transfer, innovation, and South-South cooperation to bolster agricultural trade competitiveness. Digitalization and regional integration were recognized as valuable opportunities for LDCs to improve market penetration.
Particular attention was given to the hurdles small-scale farm producers encounter, such as certification, laboratory testing, and regulatory compliance costs. Gender-specific obstacles, where women face difficulties in accessing land, finance, and export opportunities, were also highlighted. Using examples like the dried mango supply chain in Burkina Faso and the peppercorn supply chain in Lao PDR, speakers discussed the difficulties arising from high tariffs, complicated sanitary and phytosanitary demands, limited agricultural practice awareness, financial constraints, and infrastructure challenges.
Meanwhile, innovative initiatives in Lao PDR are being implemented, involving certification processes with multiple stakeholders to assure organic food quality and promote knowledge dissemination.
Participants underscored the importance of building partnerships and targeting support to tap into the agricultural potential of LDCs and foster economic diversification.
The Sub-Committee on LDCs included presentations from the International Trade Centre and discussions on the WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism's monitoring and evaluation framework. Ambassador Ib Petersen of Denmark, chair of the Sub-Committee, reported progress in the discussions on the graduation from LDC status since early this year.
A report by the WTO Secretariat highlighted that the LDCs' share in world trade of goods and services has nearly doubled in the past three decades, from 0.59 percent in 1995 to 1.17 percent in 2023. However, most LDCs still depend on a limited range of products. “Further efforts are needed to enhance LDCs' participation in world trade and take advantage of emerging trade opportunities,” stated Ambassador Petersen.
A new communication on implementing the Guidelines for the Accession of LDCs, submitted by Djibouti on behalf of the LDC Group and India, was also considered. Currently, there are 44 LDCs, with 37 being WTO members, while Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan are in the accession process.
More details on the experience-sharing session and Sub-Committee on LDCs can be found through the provided links.