Negotiating Exclusions in Developing Country FTAs

There exists a choice of negotiating the exclusions in tariff liberalization: negative or positive listing. The extent of coverage caters to all sectors/products minus an identified ‘sensitive list’ under the negative list approach is considered more liberalizing than positive listing with coverage across a specific number of sectors/products selected for preferential treatment. However, as there is no predetermined method of expansion of liberalization content during phase-in periods, it is necessary to compare both methods of negotiating exclusions, as each is perceived as a new policy for stakeholders having corresponding legal, administrative and economic implications.