International Trade and Development

A/RES/64/188View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 51a International trade and development, published in 2010.

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 report of the Trade and Development Board⁹ and the report of the Secretary-General;¹⁰

⁹A/64/15 (Parts I-IV). For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 15.

¹⁰A/64/177.

Reaffirms that international trade can be an engine for development and sustained economic growth, underlines the need to fully harness its potential in that regard, and stresses the importance of upholding a universal, rule-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system that contributes to growth, sustainable development and employment, particularly in developing countries;

Notes with deep concern that the world financial and economic crisis has severely impacted international trade, particularly affecting developing countries, including through the fall in exports and loss of export revenues, restricted access to trade finance and reduced export-oriented investment, which have resulted, in many cases, in lower fiscal revenues and balance-of-payment problems;

Notes that the shortage and the high cost of trade finance for developing countries contributed significantly to the reduction in trade flows during the crisis, also notes the efforts of the international community, including through the World Bank Global Trade Liquidity Programme, to ensure additional resources at affordable rates, and calls upon bilateral and multilateral donors to redouble their efforts to increase the availability and affordability of trade finance for developing countries;

Underlines in this regard the need for greater coherence in the trade, financial and monetary systems, with a view to promoting growth, sustainable development and employment;

Stresses the need to resist all protectionist measures and tendencies, especially those affecting developing countries, particularly tariff, non-tariff and para-tariff barriers to trade, and to rectify any such measures already taken, recognizes the right of countries to fully utilize their policy space, consistent with World Trade Organization commitments, and calls upon the World Trade Organization and other relevant bodies, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to continue monitoring protectionist measures and assess their impact on developing countries;

Encourages Member States to refrain from adopting any measures or restrictions related to trade and transit that affect the access by developing countries to medicines, especially generic medicines, and medical equipment;

Expresses serious concern at the lack of progress in the negotiations of the World Trade Organization Doha Development Round, reiterates the call on developed countries to demonstrate the flexibility and political will necessary to make meaningful progress in the negotiations, with a view to concluding the Round by 2010, and calls upon all members of the World Trade Organization to adhere to the development mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration,Error: Reference source not found the decision of 1 August 2004 of the General Council of the World Trade Organization¹¹ and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration,¹² which places development at the heart of the multilateral trading system;

¹¹World Trade Organization, document WT/L/579. Available from http://docsonline.wto.org.

¹²World Trade Organization, document WT/MIN(05)/DEC. Available from http://docsonline.wto.org.

Takes note of the New Delhi informal ministerial meeting on re-energizing Doha, held on 3 and 4 September 2009, which led to the resumption of the negotiations of the Doha Round with the objective of concluding the Round by 2010;

Stresses the importance of accelerating the negotiations, with a strong reaffirmation that development remains at the heart of the Doha Round, building upon the progress already made, particularly with regard to modalities, and based on the World Trade Organization agreed workplan on agriculture, non-agricultural market access, services, rules, trade facilitation and other remaining issues, with a view to concluding the Round by 2010;

Also stresses that, in order for the Doha Round to be concluded satisfactorily, the negotiations should strengthen the rules and disciplines in the area of agriculture, eliminate agricultural export subsidies, substantially reduce the domestic measures of support by developed countries and promote enhanced market access to developed country markets, in a balanced and development-oriented outcome, while adhering to the development mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the decision of 1 August 2004 of the General Council of the World Trade Organization and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration;

Further stresses the need for negotiations of the World Trade Organization in non-agricultural market access to fulfil the development mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the decision of 1 August 2004 of the General Council of the World Trade Organization and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration;

Stresses the need for negotiations of the World Trade Organization to make substantial progress in all areas under the single undertaking, such as services, rules and trade facilitation, so as to ensure that the development concerns of developing countries are fully reflected in any outcome, consistent with the development mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the decision of 1 August 2004 of the General Council of the World Trade Organization and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration;

Reiterates its call for accelerating work on the trade-related aspects of the World Intellectual Property Organization development agenda, as well as the development-related mandate concerning the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement)¹³ in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, especially the examination of the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity,¹⁴ the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore and the issues related to the full implementation of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health,¹⁵ affecting developing countries, including the least developed countries, especially those issues arising from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases;

¹³See 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).

¹⁴United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1760, No. 30619.

¹⁵World Trade Organization, document WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2. Available from http://docsonline.wto.org.

Reaffirms the commitments made at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization7 and at the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries,¹⁶ in this regard calls upon developed countries that have not already done so to provide immediate predictable, duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis to all products originating from all least developed countries, calls upon developing countries that are in a position to do so to extend duty-free and quota-free market access to exports of these countries, in this context reaffirms also the need to consider additional measures for progressive improvement in market access for least developed countries, and reaffirms further the need for members of the World Trade Organization to take additional measures to provide effective market access, both at the border and otherwise, including simplified and transparent rules of origin so as to facilitate exports from least developed countries;

¹⁶See A/CONF.191/13.

Also reaffirms the commitment to actively pursue the work programme of the World Trade Organization with respect to addressing the trade-related issues and concerns affecting the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system in a manner commensurate with their special circumstances and in support of their efforts towards sustainable development, in accordance with paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration;

Expresses its deep concern at the imposition of laws and other forms of coercive economic measures, including unilateral sanctions, against developing countries, which undermine international law and the rules of the World Trade Organization and also severely threaten freedom of trade and investment;

Recognizes the special problems and needs of the landlocked developing countries within a new global framework for transit transport cooperation for landlocked and transit developing countries, calls, in this regard, for the full and effective implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action,¹⁷ and stresses the need for the implementation of the São Paulo Consensus¹⁸ and of the Accra Accord¹⁹ by the relevant international organizations and donors in a multi-stakeholder approach;

¹⁷Report of the International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and International Financial and Development Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 28 and 29 August 2003 (A/CONF.202/3), annex I.

¹⁸TD/412, chap. II.

¹⁹TD/442 and Corr.1, chap. II.

Reaffirms that developing countries should play an increasing role in the formulation of, inter alia, safety, environmental and health standards, calls for the full and fair representation of developing countries in the relevant international standard-setting organizations, and in this regard also calls for additional financial resources and technical capacity-building to ensure the adequate participation of developing countries;

Recognizes that South-South trade should be strengthened, notes that enhanced market access between developing countries can play a positive role in stimulating South-South trade, and calls for acceleration of the work of the ongoing third round of negotiations (the São Paulo Round) on the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries;

Calls for facilitating the accession of all developing countries that apply for membership in the World Trade Organization, in particular the least developed countries, including countries emerging from conflict that are least developed countries, bearing in mind paragraph 21 of resolution 55/182 of 20 December 2000 and subsequent developments, and also calls for the effective and faithful application of the World Trade Organization guidelines on accession by the least developed countries;

Emphasizes the need for further work to foster greater coherence between the multilateral trading system and the international financial system, and invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in fulfilment of its mandate, to undertake the relevant policy analysis in those areas and to operationalize such work, including through its technical assistance activities;

Takes note of the holding of the second Global Review on Aid for Trade, on 6 and 7 July 2009, aimed at reviewing progress achieved and identifying additional measures needed to support developing and least developed countries in building their supply and export capacities, and stresses the urgent need to implement the aid for trade commitments, especially with regard to the mobilization of additional, non-conditional and predictable funding;

Welcomes the efforts made to operationalize the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries, aimed at promoting the export and supply capacities of the least developed countries, as well as the establishment of the Enhanced Integrated Framework Trust Fund, and urges development partners to increase their contributions, with a view to ensuring increased additional, non-conditional and predictable financial resources on a multi-year basis;

Reiterates the important role of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as the focal point within the United Nations system for the integrated treatment of trade and development and interrelated issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development, and calls upon the international community to work towards the strengthening of the Conference in order to enable it to enhance its contribution in its three major pillars, namely, consensus-building, research and policy analysis and technical assistance, especially through increased core resources;

Invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in accordance with its mandate, to monitor and assess the evolution of the international trading system and of trends in international trade from a development perspective, and, in particular, to analyse issues of concern to developing countries, supporting them in building capacities to establish their own negotiating priorities and negotiate trade agreements, including under the Doha Work Programme;

Urges donors to provide the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development with the increased resources necessary to deliver effective and demand-driven assistance to developing countries, as well as to enhance their contributions to the trust funds of the Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries and the Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme;

Requests the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution and on developments in the multilateral trading system, including with regard to the implementation of the World Intellectual Property Organization development agenda, under the sub-item entitled “International trade and development” of the item entitled “Macroeconomic policy questions”;

Also requests the Secretary-General to transmit the present resolution to the Director-General of the World Trade Organization for circulation as a document of the World Trade Organization.

International Trade and Development

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