Poor nations plan to boost trade

By Andrew Walker
BBC economics correspondent in Sao Paulo

A group of developing countries have launched negotiations intended to stimulate trade with one another.

Farmers from the developing world want greater access for their goods

The move was announced at a meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Brazil.

The proposed negotiations are intended to build on an existing scheme known as the Global System of Trade Preferences.

Under that arrangement, 44 countries have already been negotiating better access to one another's markets.

That means lower tariffs imposed by importing countries on goods from others in the group.

'South-south trade'

The Sao Paulo announcement proposes extending this arrangement to another 40 developing countries.

Removing barriers to what is sometimes called south-south trade does have the potential to create new opportunities for economic growth.

Some developing countries have already registered strong increases in incomes in the last few decades and so created an enlarged market for others to sell their goods to.

In many cases the barriers developing countries face in exporting to others are higher than those imposed by rich countries, so removing them can make a big difference.

Most, however, would not see this initiative as an alternative to better access for their goods, especially farm produce, to the markets of the rich countries.

Negotiations on that are underway in the World Trade Organisation and, after a period of deadlock, seem to be making progress again.