WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.5  
 
17 June 2013  
(13-3132)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Trade and Development  Original: English  
 
 
GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES 
NOTIFICATION BY NORWAY 
 
Addendum 
 The following communication, dated 13 June 2013, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Norway. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
 1.1.  The Norwegian Government has made several improvements to its Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) with effect from 1 January 2013.  
1.2.  In 2011, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) carried out a study of 
Norway’s GSP.
1 In the first half of 2012, an inter-ministerial working group made their 
recommendations regarding a revised GSP scheme. These were endorsed by the Government, and 
the Parliament made the necessary decisions as part of the State Budget for 2013. The working group’s report is available in English.
 2 
1.3.  Norway’s GSP has been revised several times since it was established in 1971. Some 
amendments were introduced 1 January 2008,3 when the provision establishing duty-free and 
quota-free market access (DFQF-MA) to Norway  for all goods from the 50 Least-Developed 
Countries (LDCs) was extended to include 14 Othe r Low Income Countries (LICs) with a population 
of less than 75 million.  
1.4.  The main rule is that countries entering in to a free trade agreement (FTA) with Norway are to 
be withdrawn from the GSP scheme.  
1.5.  The most extensive change under the recent revision is to establish a new category of GSP 
recipients: Lower Middle Income Countries and territories (LMICs) based on the list of OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC)
4 with a population of less than 75 million. This group, 
which in this context is named “GSP plus”, is granted more preferential market access than 
ordinary GSP recipients. One of the intentions behi nd the establishment of the “GSP plus” group is 
to soften the transition for countries graduating from an income group in which  they had D F Q F - M A  t o  N o r w a y ,  t o  a n  i n c o m e  g r o u p  i n  w h ich ordinary GSP preferences applied until the 
recent revision. Granting of DFQF-MA remains limited to LDCs as well as LICs with a population of 
less than 75 million.  
                                               
1http://english.nupi.no/Activities/Departments/Department-of-International-
Economics/Prosjekter/Norway-s-imports- from-developing-countries-and-the-GSP  .  
2http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/UD/Vedlegg/Handelspolitikk/121029_Import_from_developing_coun
tries_WEB_v2.pdf  .  
3 Norway has made five previous notifications to the WTO on its GSP (in 1995, 2000, 2001, 2005 and 
2008) 
4 The DAC List of ODA Recipients shows all countries and territories eligible to receive official 
development assistance (ODA). The DA C list divides the ODA recipients into four groups: Least-Developed 
Countries; Other Low Income Countries; Lower Middle In come Countries and Territori es; Upper Middle Income 
Countries and Territories. The list is revised every third year.   WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.5 
 
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  1.6.  The following groups of countries and te rritories are now represented in Norway’s GSP 
scheme5: 
 Ordinary GSP : 
 
 Upper Middle Income Countries and territories (UMICs)  
 LMICs with a population exceeding 75 million 
GSP plus :  
 LMICs with a population of less than 75 million  
 LICs with a population exceeding 75 million 
GSP zero :  
 All LDCs  
 LICs with a population of less than 75 million  
1.7.  The GSP country list will continue to be based on the DAC List of ODA recipients. Clear 
routines for dealing with changes to the DAC list have been established: In the case of countries 
that graduate to a higher income group, the pr eferences that apply to the higher income group 
shall take effect at the beginning of the year afte r the country has been placed in a higher income 
group in two successive DAC revisions. Countries that move to a lower income group shall be 
granted the same preferences as other countries in the lower income group from the beginning of 
the following year.  
1.8.  The Government’s review of preferen ces granted led to the following decisions: 
Lower Middle Income Countries and Territories with a population of less than 75 million 
(“GSP plus”) are granted the following: 
  Duty-free access for all industrial goods 
 
 Improvement of tariff preferences for agricultural goods: 
 
- Duty-free access for an additional 49 tariff lines (selected flowers, cuttings, 
vegetables, fruits, oils and preserved vegetables). 
 
- 50% tariff reduction on 15 tariff lines. 
 
1.9.  For ordinary GSP recipients, the following improvements are made: 
 Preferences on administratively reduced tariffs on cereals and soy bean oil cakes for 
animal feed are increased from 10 to 20%.  
 
 Duty-free access for fish oil for animal feed.  
 
 A duty-free quota for molasses has been established. 
 
 Existing quotas for preserved ham, beans and green beans are made more flexible. 
 
1.10.  For more details, see the Directorate of Customs and Excise website
6 and the Norwegian 
Government’s website.7 
                                               
5 See attachment A or this link for a comprehensive list of countries that are part of Norway’s GSP: 
http://www.toll.no/templates_TAD/Article.aspx?id=267323&epslanguage=en   
6 http://www.toll.no/templates_TAD/Article.aspx?id=267324&epslanguage=en   
7 http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/whats-new/news/2012/market_access.html?id=707129   WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.5 
 
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  ANNEX 
 
COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE FOR NORWAY’S GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES (GSP) 
This table shows countries that are eligible for Norway’s GSP. Countries marked with * are 
Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) or treated as LDCs. Countries marked with + are GSP+. 
 
Imports of goods from LDCs are free of duty. Th e ordinary GSP countries and GSP+ have between 
10 and 100% reduction. The different duty rates are shown in the Norwegian Customs Tariff.  
 
A 
Afghanistan* Angola* Algeria 
Armenia+ 
 Azerbaijan Argentina 
B 
Bangladesh* Belarus Benin* 
Bhutan* Bolivia+ Bosnia and Hertzegovina 
Botzwana Brazil  
 
C 
Cambodia* Cameroon+ Cape Verde+ 
China, People's Republic of Colombia Cook Islands (New Zealand) 
Cuba Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire* 
 
D 
Democratic Republic of the Congo*   
Dominica Dominican Rupublic  
 
E   
Ecuador El Salvador+ Ethiopia* 
 
F-G 
Fiji+ Gabon Gambia* 
Georgia+ Ghana* Guatemala+ 
Guinea* Guyana+  
 
H 
Haiti* Honduras+  
 
I-J 
India Indonesia Iraq+ 
Iran Jamaica  
 
K 
Kenya* Kosovo+ Kyrgyzstan* 
 
L 
Lao People's Democratic Republic* Lesotho* Liberia* 
 
M 
Madagascar* Malaysia Malawi* 
Maldives* Mali* Mauritius 
Mongolia+ 
 Mozambique* Myanmar* 
N 
Namibia Nepal* Nicaragua+ 
Niger*   
 
P   
Panama Papua New Guinea* Pakistan 
Paraguay+ Philippines  
 
S 
Saint Lucia Senegal* South Africa 
Sri Lanka+ Sudan* Surinam 
Swaziland+   
 WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.5 
 
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  T 
Tanzania, United Republic of* Thailand Togo* 
Tonga+   
 
U-Z 
Uganda* Uruguay Venezuela, Bolivari an Republic of 
Viet Nam Zambia* Zimbabwe* 
 
 
Countries that are a part of the Norwegian GSP-system, but have not yet presented their stamps to the Norwegian customs, are shown in this table.  Countries marked with * will benefit from LDC 
treatment. 
 
 
A 
Anguilla 
 Antigua and Barbuda  
B 
Belize+ Burkina Faso* Burundi* 
 
C 
Central African Republic* Chad* Congo+ 
Comoros*   
 
D-E 
Djibouti* East Timor* Equatorial Guinea* 
Eritrea*   
 
G 
Grenada Guinea-Bissau*  
 
K-L  
Kazakhstan Kiribati* Ko rea, Republic of* 
Libya   
 
M 
Marshall Islands+ (US) Mauritania* Micronesia+ 
Moldova, Republic of+ Monserrat (UK)  
 
N 
Nauru Nigeria Niue Islands (New Zealand) 
 
O-R 
Rwanda*   
 
S 
Saint Helena (UK) Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
Samoa* Sao Tome and Principe Seychelles 
Sierra Leone* Solomon Islands* Somalia* 
South-Sudan* Syrian Arab Republic+  
 
T 
Tajikistan* Tokelau Islands+ (New Zealand) Turkmenistan+ 
Turks and Caicos Islands (UK) Tuvalu*  
 
U 
Ukraine Uzbekistan*  
 
V-Y 
Wallis and Futuna Vanuatu* Yemen* 
 
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