ABSTRACT
Import Entitlements has three distinct connotations. The first applies when, in controlled economies with import restrictions, manufacturers are given permits to import materials that will be incorporated within export-merchandise. The second connotation of Import Entitlements – known also as the 'link system' and 'export retention quotas' – is intended unequivocally to subsidise meritorious exporters by conferring on them the right to bring in goods which are in short supply. The third connotation of Import Entitlements embraces some of the oldest export incentives. Often Import Entitlements are not transferable, the underlying idea being that the exporter himself is meant to organise the imports and arrange for their sale in the home market. By the seventies Import Entitlements had practically disappeared as an export incentive of the rich nations but they flourished in Asia and Latin America. By embracing Import Entitlements for opportunistic reasons, Less-developed country squander part of their foreign currency resources earned through exports.
