Who are the developing countries in the WTO?

They are grouped as “developing countries” and “least developed countries”, in accordance with the criteria set out below. Definition of a “developing country” ... hometrade topicsdevelopmentdefinition DEVELOPMENT: DEFINITION WhoarethedevelopingcountriesintheWTO? DevelopingcountriescompriseamajorityoftheWTO membership.They aregroupedas“developingcountries” and“leastdevelopedcountries”,inaccordancewiththecriteriaset outbelow. SEEALSO: >Developing Countriesin“UnderstandingtheWTO” Definition ofa“developingcountry”intheWTOback totop Howistheselectionmade?  TherearenoWTOdefinitionsof“developed” and“developing”countries.Members announceforthemselveswhethertheyare“developed”or“developing”countries. However,othermemberscanchallengethedecisionofamembertomake useofprovisionsavailabletodevelopingcountries.   Whataretheadvantagesof “developing country”status?  Developing countrystatusintheWTObringscertainrights.Thereareforexample provisions insomeWTOAgreementswhichprovidedevelopingcountrieswithlonger transitionperiods beforetheyarerequiredtofullyimplement theagreementanddevelopingcountriescanreceivetechnical assistance. ThataWTOmemberannouncesitselfasadeveloping countrydoesnotautomaticallymeanthatitwillbenefitfromthe unilateralpreferenceschemesofsomeofthedevelopedcountrymembers suchastheGeneralizedSystemofPreferences(GSP).Inpractice,it isthepreferencegivingcountrywhichdecidesthelistofdeveloping countriesthatwillbenefitfromthepreferences.Formoreinformation abouttheGSP,seethe United NationsConferenceonTradeandDevelopment(UNCTAD)’swebsite, (opensinanewwindow). back totop“Least-developedcountries”intheWTO Formoreinformationonleast-developedcountries, seethe UNCTADWebsite, (opensinanewwindow).