International Trade and Development

A/RES/71/214View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 17a International trade and development, published in 2017.

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 subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Conferences Development International Trade Multilateral Trade Negotiations Trade Facilitation

What’s in this document?

29 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development¹ and the report of the Secretary-General;²

¹A/71/15 (Parts I-IV).

²A/71/275.

Recognizes that Member States will not be able to achieve the ambitious Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development³ without a revitalized and enhanced global partnership and comparably ambitious means of implementation, and that a revitalized global partnership will facilitate an intensive global engagement in support of the implementation of all the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda, bringing together Governments, civil society, the private sector, the United Nations system and other actors and mobilizing all available resources;

³Resolution 70/1.

Reaffirms the commitments made through the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development⁴ in, inter alia, international trade as an important action area for sustainable development;

⁴Resolution 69/313, annex.

Also reaffirms that international trade is an engine for inclusive growth and poverty reduction, that it contributes to the promotion of sustainable development and that the General Assembly will continue to promote a universal, rules-based, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, as well as meaningful trade liberalization;

Recognizes that, at the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, held in Nairobi from 15 to 19 December 2015, and as stated in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, many members of the World Trade Organization reaffirmed the Doha Development Agenda and the declarations and decisions adopted at Doha and at the Ministerial Conferences held since then, and also reaffirmed their full commitment to conclude the Doha Development Agenda on that basis, while other members did not reaffirm the Doha mandates as they believe that new approaches are necessary to achieve meaningful outcomes in multilateral negotiations, and that members of the World Trade Organization have different views on how to address the negotiations and acknowledge its strong legal structure;

Also recognizes that, as stated in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, there remains a strong commitment on the part of all members of the World Trade Organization to advance negotiations on the remaining Doha issues, including advancing work in all three pillars of agriculture, namely, domestic support, market access and export competition, as well as non-agricultural market access, services, development, the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and the rules of the World Trade Organization, and that the work on all the decisions adopted in part II of the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration will remain an important element of the future agenda of the World Trade Organization;

Further recognizes that, as stated in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, the work of the World Trade Organization shall maintain development at its centre, that provisions for special and differential treatment shall remain integral to that work, that the members of the World Trade Organization shall also continue to give priority to the concerns and interests of the least developed countries and that many members of the World Trade Organization want to carry out that work on the basis of the Doha structure, while some want to explore new architectures;

Recognizes that, as stated in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, while members of the World Trade Organization concur that officials should prioritize the work of the World Trade Organization where results have not yet been achieved, some wish to identify and discuss other issues for negotiation, and others do not, and that any decision to launch negotiations multilaterally on such issues would need to be agreed upon by all members of the World Trade Organization;

Welcomes the decisions and the Declaration listed in parts I and II of the Bali Ministerial Declaration of the World Trade Organization and the subsequent decision of 27 November 2014 of the General Council of the World Trade Organization on public stockholding for food security purposes;

Emphasizes that accession to the World Trade Organization remains an integral part of the development strategies of most countries aiming to benefit fully from the international trading system, and that it is also important for the further integration of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and countries with economies in transition, into the rules-based multilateral trading system, that, in this context, acceding countries, particularly the least developed countries, need technical assistance prior to, during and in the follow-up to the accession process, within which obstacles should be addressed so as to facilitate the accession process, in order to achieve its early conclusion, and, with regard to acceding least developed countries, that the members of the World Trade Organization have agreed to implement the guidelines and the decision of 25 July 2012 of the General Council of the World Trade Organization on accession of least developed countries;

Welcomes the commitments to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organization by the end of 2016, calls upon members of the World Trade Organization that have not yet done so to ratify the Agreement, notes the important role that bilateral and regional trade agreements can play in liberalizing trade and in the development of trade rules, while recognizing the need to ensure that they are consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, also notes the commitments to working to ensure that bilateral and regional trade agreements complement the multilateral trading system, and are open, transparent, inclusive and consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, and further notes that plurilateral trade agreements with broad participation that are consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization can play an important role in complementing global liberalization initiatives;

Emphasizes the need to combat protectionism in all its forms and to rectify any trade-distorting measures that are inconsistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, recognizing the right of countries, in particular developing countries, to fully utilize flexibilities consistent with their World Trade Organization commitments and obligations;

Strongly urges States to refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impede the full achievement of economic and social development, particularly in developing countries;

Recalls the convening of the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Nairobi from 15 to 19 December 2015, and expresses its appreciation to the Government of Kenya for hosting the meeting;

Welcomes the convening of the Eleventh Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Buenos Aires from 11 to 14 December 2017, and expresses its appreciation to the Government of Argentina for hosting the meeting;

Also welcomes the elements included in the package reached at the Tenth Ministerial Conference, including, inter alia, the decisions on agriculture, cotton and issues related to the least developed countries;

Recalls the importance of members of the World Trade Organization working together with a view to achieving positive outcomes at the Eleventh Ministerial Conference and beyond in a balanced, inclusive and transparent way, with a sense of urgency and solidarity, and to further working to strengthen the World Trade Organization;

Stresses the need to remove food export restrictions and extraordinary taxes on food purchased for non-commercial, humanitarian purposes by the World Food Programme and not to impose them in the future;

Recognizes the importance of fair, sound and robust national competition and consumer protection laws and policies and international cooperation, information exchange and capacity-building in the areas of competition policy and legislation in order to enhance the international competitiveness of developing countries;

Also recognizes the role of services, in particular infrastructure services, in diversification and structural transformation, and the importance of supporting developing countries in the establishment of policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks that contribute to resilient and quality infrastructure development;

Welcomes the launch of the “eTrade for All” initiative at the fourteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held in Nairobi from 17 to 22 July 2016, which seeks to provide a new approach to trade development through electronic exchanges by allowing developing countries to more easily navigate the supply of technical assistance for building capacity in e-commerce readiness and by enabling donors to obtain a clear picture of programmes that they could fund;

Recognizes that international trade and investment offers opportunities but also requires complementary actions at the national level, commits to strengthening domestic enabling environments and the implementation of sound domestic policies and reforms conducive to realizing the potential of trade for inclusive growth and sustainable development, and recognizes the need for value addition by developing countries and for further integration of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises into value chains;

Stresses the importance of women’s and girls’ equal rights and opportunities in political and economic decision-making and resource allocation and of removing any barriers that prevent women from being full participants in the economy, and in this regard urges Member States, the entities of the United Nations system and other international actors to take the actions required to address specific challenges to the equal and active participation of women-owned companies in international trade, including enhancing access to education and finance, increasing skills and knowledge and securing an enabling environment at all levels;

Takes note of the convening of the fourteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and welcomes its outcome documents;⁵

⁵TD/519 and Add.1 and 2.

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 in contributing to supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, taking into account the Nairobi Maafikiano, adopted at the fourteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in particular its paragraphs 10, 12 and 14;⁶

⁶TD/519/Add.2.

Invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to continue to monitor and assess the evolution of the international trading system and its trends from a development perspective, with particular attention to its potential contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, and to monitor and assess persistent and emerging development challenges to trade from a sustainable development perspective, in accordance with its mandate;

Recognizes the commitment to continue to address the needs of small, vulnerable economies and to favourably consider the adoption of such measures as would facilitate their fuller integration into the multilateral trading system, taking into account the needs of small, vulnerable economies in all areas of negotiations, without creating a subcategory of members of the World Trade Organization, and in this regard encourages progress on the implementation of the World Trade Organization work programme on small economies, which supports their efforts towards sustainable development, as also reflected in the outcome document of the third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway;⁷

⁷Resolution 69/15, annex.

Calls upon the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and resources, to ensure that no one is left behind and no country is left behind in the further implementation of the present resolution;

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 seventy-second session, a report on the implementation of the present resolution, and decides to include, under the item entitled “Macroeconomic policy questions”, the sub-item entitled “International trade and development” in the provisional agenda of its seventy-second session, unless otherwise agreed.

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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