The sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aim to double the share of global exports of the least developed countries (LDCs) by 2020.

The agenda also calls for providing duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) market access to LDCs as one of the main pillars of international support for export expansion by LDCs. DFQF market access is important, but will it be sufficient to double the export share of LDCs? And will it contribute to sustainable development?

What kind of market access conditions are least developed country exports facing today?

Least developed country exports receive preferential market access in most developed countries. In 2014, 89.5 per cent of the value of the exports of LDCs to developed countries was duty free. Developing countries also provide preferential market access to LDC exports. Average applied tariff rates to LDC exports continued to fall even after the financial crisis in 2008-2009. As the presence of import quotas has diminished in international trade, market access conditions faced by LDCs are moving closer to DFQF market access. However, the true value of preferential market access is determined by the tariff margins, that is the difference between the tariff rates applicable to LDC exports and those applicable to the exports of competitors.

UNCTAD has estimated the preferential tariff margin of LDC exports relative to the exports of non-LDC countries competing in the same markets in 2008 and 2013. The relative preferential margin in 2013 increased from the 2008 level except in Latin America, where LDC competitors enjoy better market access conditions through regional trade agreements (RTAs). The fall in relative preferential margins in low-income countries and South Asia may have resulted from a compositional shift of LDC exports from low-tariff products (e.g. fuels) to higher-tariff products (e.g. foodstuffs).

What will genuinely improve the market access conditions faced by the least developed countries?

Considering market access conditions as one of the binding constraints to the export growth of LDCs in the post-2015 development agenda (along with constraints related to infrastructure, energy and transport), UNCTAD proposes the following package of six international actions:

1. Provide duty-free and quota-free market access

2. Implement the WTO ministerial decision on the services waiver and fulfil article IV.1 and 3 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services

3. Reduce future trade costs by cooperating in SDG implementation

4. Physically connect LDCs to the international market

5. Target aid for trade to upgrade the productive and export capacity of LDCs

6. Help LDCs use their export growth to achieve sustainable development