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The experience of four Asian developing countries shows that the European General System of Preferences (GSP) offers only a limited level of preferential tariffs. Moreover, this advantage is further reduced by the tendency that emerged in 1998 during revisions to the system, which aimed to multiply special tariffs and further develop graduation. By means of special regimes, the European Commission tried to introduce in GSPs social and environmental clauses. However, this met the opposition of developing countries. Moreover, the application more and more frequently of the graduation mechanism could have negative effects on exchanges between developing countries because it invites fraud and could lead to trade exchanges being diverted, to the prejudice of developing countries.