WTO agreements contain over 150 provisions with flexibilities specifically designed for the benefit of developing members, including LDCs. Known as “special and differential treatment”, these provisions include flexibilities such as extended implementation timeframes for WTO rules and the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building activities. Such provisions are intended to help developing economies implement WTO agreements, boost their trading capacities and expand trade opportunities. The overall aim is to ensure that developing economies, and especially LDCs, secure a share in the growth in international trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development.

Small economies

At MC14, ministers adopted the Work Programme on Small Economies, reaffirming the mandate under the 2001 Doha Declaration and reinforcing work on the fuller integration of small economies into global trade.

Submitted by the WTO's Group of Small, Vulnerable Economies (SVEs), the draft decision was agreed to at a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development's Dedicated Session on Small Economies in Geneva on 17 February 2026. Among other things, the decision calls on the WTO Secretariat to map key vulnerabilities in small economies' trade logistics and to support their participation in global digital trade.

During the General Council meeting held on 6 and 7 May 2026 in Geneva, members welcomed consensus on the decision. They underlined the need to translate the outcome into concrete work in Geneva, in particular through the Committee on Trade and Development.

The CTD Chair, Ambassador Elmer José Germán Gonzalo Schialer Salcedo of Peru, reported that the decision mandates further work, in cooperation with relevant international organizations, including on:

• trade logistics, connectivity, border processes and digital trade facilitation tools
• enhancing small economies’ participation in digital trade through practical measures and best practice exchange, including support for MSMEs.
• Members highlighted the next Dedicated Session scheduled for 8 July as the first step in operationalizing the MC14 mandate.

Information on the Work Programme on Small Economies can be found here.

Discussions on special and differential treatment at MC14

Discussions continued at MC14 on strengthening special and differential treatment provisions in WTO agreements and on making them more precise, effective and operational. Members made further progress on discussions related to the provisions in the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).

They also discussed a communication aimed at facilitating the transfer and diffusion of advanced technologies - including environmental technologies - to developing economies, including LDCs, under Article 66.2 of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Members' views on the G90 proposal in this area continue to differ and reservations remain.

Negotiations also continued at MC14 on a decision on extending support to countries graduating from LDC status. In the context of WTO reform, discussions included how to make special and differential treatment more effective in the face of today’s challenges.

Agreement-specific proposals

The negotiations on special and differential treatment in the Committee on Trade and Development in special session started in 2001. They are mandated by Paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, which calls for all special and differential treatment provisions to be reviewed with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and operational.

At MC13, ministers instructed the continuation of work on improving the application of special and differential treatment, including in other relevant WTO bodies and to report on progress to the General Council before MC14.

Negotiations have focused on a set of Agreement-specific proposals put forward by the G90 group(1) of developing WTO members, which prioritized three areas in the run up to MC14, namely:

• sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade
• Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement relating to incentives for technology transfer to LDCs
• issues related to the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures.

The negotiations have involved close collaboration between the Committee on Trade and Development in special session, the SPS Committee, the TBT Committee and the TRIPS Council.

The remaining Agreement-specific proposals will be addressed after the Ministerial Conference.

Transfer of technology

Technology transfer has long been part of the WTO's development discussions. Since the 2001 Ministerial Conference, members have examined the relationship between trade and the transfer of technology and possible steps within the WTO framework to increase technology flows to developing economies through the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology.

In this context, India circulated in December 2025 a communication aimed at facilitating the transfer and diffusion of advanced technologies - including environmental technologies - to developing economies, including LDCs. The proposal seeks to encourage discussions among members on the challenges developing economies face in accessing and using such technologies and envisages possible recommendations, including a roadmap for future work. Members have begun considering the proposal in the Working Group, and the General Council was informed of these developments as part of preparations for MC14. Discussions are ongoing, with members continuing to exchange views on the role the WTO could play in this area and on possible ways forward.

LDC graduation

At MC14, members continued discussions on the LDC-specific package submitted by the LDC Group. The package aims to extend, for a three-year period following graduation from LDC status, certain LDC flexibilities in the areas of subsidies, TRIPS and agriculture. It also calls for fully implementing past LDC-specific decisions and welcomes the launch of the third phase of the Enhanced Integrated Framework, which took place on the sidelines of MC14. The Enhanced Integrated Framework is a multilateral partnership dedicated exclusively to assisting LDCs in using trade as an engine for growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction. While consensus on the package could not be reached at MC14, members will continue discussions in the CTD.

Graduation from LDC status remains a top priority for the LDC Group, with 14 of the 44 LDCs currently in various stages of the graduation process. Over the past few years, LDCs have emphasized the importance of a smooth transition mechanism for LDCs following graduation.

A WTO member graduates from LDC status when it meets the graduation criteria set by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP). The decision is taken by the UN General Assembly on the recommendation of the CDP, an advisory body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

WTO members have adopted two recent decisions to support LDCs' smooth transition to developing economy status:

• a General Council decision in October 2023 on market access. The decision encourages preference-granting members to provide "a smooth and sustainable transition period" for withdrawing duty-free, quota-free market access opportunities post-graduation
• an MC13 decision, which sets a three-year transition period for phasing out LDC-specific benefits relating to Article 24 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding procedures, and technical assistance and capacity-building training activities. The objective is to help members that have graduated from LDC status gradually adjust their trading environment.

Out of the 14 LDCs on the path towards graduation, 12 are WTO members (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Comoros, Djibouti, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Tanzania and Uganda). The other two LDCs on the path to graduation are Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Information on previous LDC-specific decisions can be found here.

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