TRADE POLICIES TOWARDS DEVELOPING-COUNTRI ES - PERSPECTIVES AFTER THEURUGUAY ROUND

A major challenge for aid and trade policies is how to handle the incr easing gap between different groups of developing countries that has d eveloped over the last two decades. The article reviews trade policies towards developing countries after the Uruguay Round with a main focu s on aspects of discrimination and differentiation of policies, as wel l as the differential impact of policies in various countries. The art icle concludes that the trend towards global regionalisation should no t be exaggerated, but trade policy is currently moving into complex is sues which may more easily be solved within regional organisations tha n at the global level. A new trend in regionalism is the development o f north-south integration, e.g. NAFTA involving Mexico and EU integrat ing with Southern and Eastern Europe. This type of integration raises a number of new challenges. Asia is the fastest growing part of the wo rld economy, and it is suggested that Europe should engage in open doo r trade policies instead of protectionism. The need for favourable tre atment of the ACP countries and the least developed countries should n ot be an argument for continued protectionism towards other developing countries. if Norway joins the EU, there will be a slight increase in trade barriers towards Asia, but the internal market has made the EU more liberal so there will not be a marked change in the direction of protectionism. The article also reviews important aspects of the Urugu ay Round.