UNCTAD introduced the Generalized System of Preferences in 1971.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development developed the GSP framework to give developing countries improved access to developed-country markets. Under preferential schemes, eligible products from developing economies may receive lower or zero tariffs than comparable goods from countries without preference.
The idea was endorsed at the second session of UNCTAD in New Delhi in 1968, and the first GSP schemes began operating in 1971. Unlike a conventional free-trade agreement, a GSP scheme is generally granted unilaterally by the preference-giving country or customs territory.
GSP benefits are not automatically identical everywhere. Each donor sets its own product coverage, eligibility rules, graduation thresholds and conditions. The system is therefore distinct from most-favoured-nation treatment, which normally applies the same tariff treatment to all WTO partners subject to permitted exceptions.