Webinars on duty-free quota-free market access and rules of origin for LDCs

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic and related economic shocks, UNCTAD and the EIF Executive Secretariat aim to assist the LDCs with their economic recovery efforts by taking advantage of the multilateral trade opportunities arising from the World Trade Organization (WTO) Hong Kong Ministerial Conference initiative on duty-free and quota-free market access (DFQF). Some LDCs, particularly African countries, have not yet fully exploited the opportunities offered by these unilateral preferences. Hence, this series of webinars on how to make use of DFQF based on UNCTAD Handbook On Duty-Free and Quota-Free Market Access and Rules of Origin For Least Developed Countries.

Each webinar will consist of 2 sessions of around 1 hour and 30 minutes each. During the first session, the requirements that exporters need to fulfill in order to benefit from the duty-free quota-free initiative as well as the use of the UNCTAD Database on GSP Utilization will be covered. At the end of the session, 20 min will be devoted to Q&A and to the distribution of a few exercises to be carried out by the participants on their own between the two sessions. In the second session, these exercises will be reviewed, other relevant online resources will be presented with hands-on examples followed by a final Q&A.

The target audience will consist of representatives of private sector associations, exporter associations, trade promotion agencies, major exporters and government officials dealing with trade policy formulation and implementation of trade agreement.