International Trade and Development

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 95a Trade and development, published in 1996.

What other versions does this mandate have?

33 versions · 1994–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/121

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/121	International trade and development	4,299	75%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/195	International trade and development	3,895	73%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/134	International trade and development	3,332	85%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/151	International trade and development	3,008	50%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/190	International trade and development	2,140	76%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

16 reports · 2003–2024

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2024	A/79/256	New trade dynamics and industrial policies : realizing inclusive trade gains report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/134
2020	A/75/225	International trade and development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/74/201
2019	A/74/221	International trade and development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/73/219
2017	A/72/274	International trade and development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/71/214
2016	A/71/275	International trade and development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/187

What’s in this document?

29 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Trade and Development Board on the second part of its forty-first session¹⁶ and the first part of its forty-second session,¹⁷ and calls upon all States to take appropriate action to implement the outcome of those sessions;

¹⁶A/50/15 (Vol. I).

¹⁷A/50/15 (Vol. II).

Also takes note of the Trade and Development Report, 1995,¹⁸ and recognizes the contribution such reports have made to the international trade and development dialogue;

¹⁸United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.II.D.16.

Emphasizes the importance of follow-up and monitoring of the implementation of the policies and measures contained in the Cartagena Commitment, 5/ adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its eighth session, held at Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from 8 to 25 February 1992;

Stresses the urgent need to continue trade liberalization, including liberalization through a substantial reduction of tariff and other barriers to trade, in particular non-tariff barriers, and the elimination of discriminatory and protectionist practices in international trade relations, and to improve access to the markets of all countries, in particular those of the developed countries, so as to generate sustained economic growth and sustainable development;

Also stresses the need for the full integration of the economies in transition, as well as other countries, into the world economy, in particular through improved market access for their exports and elimination of discriminatory tariff and non-tariff measures and further liberalization of their trade regimes, including vis-à-vis developing countries, and recognizes in this respect the importance of open regional economic integration of interested economies in transition among themselves as well as with developed and/or developing countries in creating new possibilities for expanding trade and investment;

Further stresses the importance of the timely and full implementation of the agreements contained in the Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and the significance of the entering into force on 1 January 1995 of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization;¹⁹

¹⁹See Legal Instruments Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994 (GATT secretariat publication, Sales No. GATT/1994-7), vols. 1 and 27-31.

Emphasizes the importance of the full and continuing implementation of the provisions contained in the Final Act that confer special and differential treatment for developing countries, including decisions giving special attention to the situation of the least developed countries and the net food-importing developing countries;

Notes the work that has been undertaken jointly and separately by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the World Trade Organization on the impact of the Uruguay Round on developing countries, and looks forward to the integration of this analysis into discussions, including those at ministerial conferences;

Invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its ninth session to transmit its assessment of challenges and opportunities arising from the Uruguay Round agreements from a development perspective to the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization;

Emphasizes the need for continued review and evaluation of the implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements to ensure that the benefits of the evolving multilateral trade system promote sustained economic growth and sustainable development;

Also emphasizes the significance of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, to be held in Singapore in December 1996, in helping to set the future direction of a rule-based multilateral trading system;

Deplores any attempt to bypass or undermine multilaterally agreed measures of trade liberalization, through resort to unilateral actions over and above those agreed to in the Uruguay Round, and reaffirms that environmental and social concerns should not be used for protectionist purposes;

Notes the work of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on trade and environment, in particular the outcome of its Ad Hoc Working Group on Trade, Environment and Development, and also notes the work of the Committee on Trade and Environment of the World Trade Organization;

Also notes the progress achieved by the joint United Nations Environment Programme/United Nations Conference on Trade and Development programme in the consideration of trade and environment issues, and invites the two organizations to continue their work in accordance with paragraph 59 of chapter I of the report of the Commission on Sustainable Development on its third session;²⁰

²⁰Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1995, Supplement No. 12 (E/1995/32).

Reaffirms the need as a matter of priority to implement the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, taking into account the assessment and recommendations adopted at the Mid-term Global Review of the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, held in New York from 25 September to 6 October 1995;

Emphasizes the urgent need for assistance to African countries, inter alia, for evaluation of the impact of the Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and to enable them to identify and implement adaptive measures to enhance their competitiveness;

Requests preference-giving countries to improve their preferential schemes, and invites the 1996 policy review of the generalized system of preferences to examine possible adaptations to the system, taking into account paragraphs 134 to 140 of the Cartagena Commitment, 5/ as well as the results of the Uruguay Round;

Reaffirms the role that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has been playing as the focal point within the United Nations for the integrated treatment of development and interrelated issues in the areas of trade, finance, technology, investment, services and sustainable development and, within this context, stresses that there should be constructive and effective cooperation between the Conference and the World Trade Organization, based on the complementarity of their functions;

Decides to enable the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to discharge its mandate, thereby making it a more effective and efficient instrument for promoting development;

Recognizes that the Conference at its ninth session will, inter alia, consider its future role, including its relationship with other international institutions, to generate synergies among them and, on the basis of its mandate and with a view to strengthening the United Nations system, the ninth session should enable the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to become a more effective instrument for promoting development;

Invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to consider, in close cooperation with other competent organizations, new and emerging issues in the international trade agenda, taking into account the new multilateral trade framework, with a view to fostering international consensus-building among Member States in such areas as trade and environment and competition policy, and, in this regard, recognizes the role of the Conference in preparing the background work and consensus-building on such issues in accordance with agreed conclusions 410 (XL) and 419 (XLI) and decision 426 (XLII) of the Trade and Development Board;

Also invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in close cooperation with other competent organizations, to follow developments in the international trading system, in particular their implications for developing countries, and to identify new trading opportunities arising from the implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements so as to provide information and technical support with a view to facilitating the integration of those countries into the system and to assist them in taking full advantage of new trading opportunities, in accordance with agreed conclusions 410 (XL) of the Trade and Development Board;

Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to monitor, analyse and review the development of trade between economies in transition and developing countries and to recommend appropriate measures for its revival, thus contributing to the strengthening of the multilateral trading system;

Welcomes the measures taken by the secretariats of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the World Trade Organization and invites them to continue to develop their working relationship, mutual cooperation and complementarity;

Emphasizes the importance to the international trading system of the inclusion in multilateral trade agreements of all countries that are not members of the World Trade Organization, and urges the international community to assist appropriately and adequately those countries that are not members of the World Trade Organization in the steps towards acceding to that Organization;

Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and invites the World Trade Organization, in accordance with their respective mandates and competence and in close cooperation with other competent United Nations bodies and the regional commissions, to address trade and environment matters comprehensively and to report, through the Commission on Sustainable Development, to the Economic and Social Council and to the General Assembly at its special session in 1997 on the concrete progress achieved on the issue of trade and environment;

Also requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to continue its special role in the field of trade and environment, including analytical and empirical work, conceptual and empirical studies, policy analysis, and consensus-building, with a view to ensuring transparency and coherence in making environmental and trade policies mutually supportive, taking into account the need for continuing close cooperation and complementarity in the work of the Conference, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Trade Organization;

Further requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to focus and intensify, where necessary, its technical assistance in the light of the Uruguay Round agreements, in cooperation with relevant international organizations, in particular the International Trade Centre and the World Trade Organization, with the aim of increasing the capacities of developing countries, especially the least developed countries, African countries, and small island developing States, so that they may participate effectively in the international trading system;

Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to continue to provide technical assistance to economies in transition, bearing in mind the needs of developing countries, in particular with regard to their full integration into the multilateral trading system, so as to contribute to the expansion of their external trade, inter alia, with developing countries.

International Trade and Development

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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