Webinar on duty-dree quota-free (DFQF) market access and rules of origin for LDCs: how to use the UNCTAD handbook and the database on GSP utilization: Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia

The main objective of these webinars was to help LDCs seize the trade opportunities offered by developed and developing countries to products originating in LDCs. The webinars were based on the UNCTAD Handbook on Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF) Market Access and Rules of Origin for LDCs and the UNCTAD Database on GSP Utilization.

This was the first webinar of this kind, It was opened by Mr. Paul Akiwuni, Director, Division for Africa, LDCs and Special Programmes, UNCTAD and Mr. Ratnakar Adhikari, Executive Director, Executive Secretariat of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).

During the two sessions, the presentation focused on answering the following questions:

• Is my country a beneficiary of the DFQF scheme of my target market?
• Is my product covered by the DFQF scheme of my target market?
• What requirements does my product need to meet?
  • Rules of origin (RO): does my product comply with them?
  • Other requirements, e.g. mode of shipment of the goods
• How can I prove it? a documentary evidence

The first session dealt in detail with the Quad countries (Canada, European Union, Japan and the United States) while the second session focused on the largest importers of LDC products among the Other Developed Countries.