S&D: also S+D or SDT. “Special and differential treatment” provisions for developing countries contained in several agreements administered by the WTO. See special and differential treatment.

S&D box: refers to Article 6.2 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture which exempts from reduction commitments some government measures maintained by developing countries in support of agriculture. This includes (a) measures of assistance, whether direct or indirect, to encourage agricultural and rural development which are an integral part of development programs, (b) investment subsidies generally available to agriculture, (c) agricultural subsidies generally available to low-income or resource-poor producers, and (e) support to producers to encourage diversification from growing illicit narcotic crops. See also amber box, blue box and green box.

SAARC: see South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

SACU: the Southern African Customs Union which comprises Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.

Safeguards: action taken to protect a specific industry from an unexpected build-up of imports causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury. Safeguards measures usually refer to action taken under Article XIX (Emergency Action on Imports of Particular Products) of the GATT, the so-called escape clause. However, safeguards action is possible also under Article XII (Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance of Payments) and Article XVIII (Governmental Assistance to Economic Development). A useful outline of the ways safeguards action may be instituted under the WTO rules has been devised by trade policy analysts within the World Bank, but this approach is not necessarily accepted by all WTO members.