Abstract
Today, international law is going through a period of structural transformation. Many claims of rights are being made, especially by the developing nations. However, (in part due to the fact that international law has no unified legislative body) this structural transformation has not progressed smoothly.
In this paper, the author discusses the process which led to the formation of the generalized system of preferences, focusing on the "rights" of the developing countries which receive the preferences. The analysis makes it clear that this system was formed on the basis of claims of right made by the developing countries. At the same time, however, contradictions in the existing preferences among the developed countries served as background. Therefore, although the system was being explained as one of favours, it had to be one of obligations of the developed countries. There remain some problems to be examined before we can determine whether the formation of general rights of the developing countries should be recognised in this system, one which shows certain similarities with the domestic "social law".
