"The Agreement on the Global System of Trade Preferences Among Developing Countries was established as a framework for the exchange of trade preferences among developing countries with a view to promoting trade among them. The idea of a global framework of trade preferences received its first political expression at the ministerial meeting of the Group of 77 in Mexico City in 1976, subsequently developed progressively at ministerial meetings of the Group of 77 in Arusha (1979) and in Caracas (1981). In 1985, the New Delhi ministerial meeting provided further impetus to the technical negotiations in Geneva. The ministerial meeting in Brasilia in 1986 established the provisional framework of the Agreement and launched the first round of negotiations on preferential trade concessions. In 1988, the text of the Agreement was adopted and the first round of negotiations concluded in Belgrade.

The Agreement was envisaged as a dynamic instrument of economic cooperation, proceeding with step-by-step negotiations in successive stages. Following a comprehensive review of the operations of the Agreement since its entry into force in 1989, the Committee of Participants decided in May 2004 to launch the Third Round of Negotiations in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the occasion of UNTAD XI.

The Agreement entered into force on 19 April 1989. To date, forty-three countries have ratified/acceded to the Agreement: Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, Venezuela, Viet Nam, and Zimbabwe. The Committee of Participants administers the Agreement with the technical support of the UNCTAD secretariat through a technical cooperation Agreement."