ABSTRACT
The European Economic Community (EEC) of six member states was the first among the preference-giving countries to implement a generalized system of preferences (GSP) scheme, which took effect in July 1971. This chapter focuses on quantifying the trade benefits derived by the developing countries from the EEC GSP. It examines the magnitude of the GSP preferential trade and analyzes the contribution made by the GSP to beneficiary exports of manufactured and semimanufactured goods. The beginning of a new era in the economic debate between industrialized and developing countries was marked by the adoption by the UN General Assembly in May 1974 of a declaration and a program of action on the New International Economic Order. Each calendar year a ceiling quantity is fixed for imports of each industrial product under the preference scheme. The developing countries have sought to reduce tariffs imposed by the industrialized nations, especially for manufactured goods.
