International Trade and Development

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 88a Trade and development, published in 1995.

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?

15 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Trade and Development Board on the second part and resumed second part of its fortieth session¹² and the first part of its forty-first session,¹³ and calls upon all States to take appropriate action to implement the outcome of those sessions;

¹²Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 15 (A/49/15), vol. I.

¹³Ibid., vol. II.

Emphasizes the importance of follow-up and monitoring of the implementation of the policies and measures contained in the Cartagena Commitment, 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 for trade liberalization, including through substantial reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade and the elimination of discriminatory treatment in international trade relations, and improved access to the markets of all countries, in particular those of the developed countries, in order to generate global economic growth and sustainable development for the benefit of all countries, in particular the developing countries;

Stresses also the importance of the urgent 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 of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization by 1 January 1995;¹⁴

¹⁴Legal 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 implementation of the provisions contained in the Final Act, which confers special and differential treatment for developing countries, including giving special attention to the situation of the least developed countries;

Emphasizes also the need for continued evaluation of the implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements to ensure the expansion of world trade in order to promote sustained global economic growth and sustainable development;

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;

Recognizes that, in order to promote sustained economic growth and sustainable development, environment and trade policies should be made mutually supportive, and in this context, takes note with satisfaction of the decision taken at the Ministerial Meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee to establish a Committee on Trade and Environment;

Emphasizes the importance of giving special attention to the least developed countries, with a view to enhancing their full participation in the multilateral trading system, and emphasizes the importance of commitments pertaining to special and differential measures to mitigate any adverse effects of the implementation of the Uruguay Round;

Emphasizes also that African countries should benefit fully from the results of the Uruguay Round, and stresses the need for technical assistance for African countries to enable them, inter alia, to evaluate the impact of the implementation of the Final Act, so that they can identify adaptive measures to enhance their competitiveness and facilitate their access to the markets of developed countries;

Requests preference-giving countries to consider improvements in their preferential schemes and invites the 1995 Policy Review on the Generalized System of Preferences to examine possible adaptations to the system, taking into account paragraphs 134 to 140 of the Cartagena Commitment; 5/

Reaffirms the role of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as the appropriate 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 requests the Conference to continue its role in the field of trade and environment, including policy analysis, conceptual work and consensus-building, with a view to ensuring transparency and coherence in making environmental and trade policies mutually supportive, taking into account the work done by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and other competent and regional economic institutions;

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, including through, in accordance with multilateral trade rules, the reduction and elimination of discriminatory tariff and non-tariff measures, and the further liberalization of their trade regimes, including vis-à-vis developing countries, and also stresses, in this context, the usefulness of studies and technical assistance provided by the United Nations system regarding trade and trade-related problems that the economies in transition are encountering in their integration into the multilateral trading system;

Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to focus and intensify its technical assistance in the light of the Uruguay Round agreements, with the aim of increasing the capacities of developing countries, especially the least developed countries, African countries and island developing countries, so that they may participate effectively in the international trading system;

Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to make proposals for translating the commitments made at the Ministerial Meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee regarding the least developed countries and net food-importing countries into concrete action.

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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