Commodities

A/RES/53/174No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 91cCommodities, published in 1999.

What other versions does this mandate have?

22 versions · 1987–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

2025A/RES/80/124CommoditiesLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/138CommoditiesCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/194CommoditiesCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/204CommoditiesCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/72/205CommoditiesCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Commodities Commodity Prices Export Diversification Joint Ventures South-South Trade Trade Liberalization

What does this mandate say?

19 operative paragraphs

Notes the need of the developing countries, in particular the commodity-dependent developing countries, for stable and more predictable commodity prices in the face of instability and decline in real terms of the prices of many commodities;

Emphasizes the need for developing countries that are heavily dependent on primary commodities to continue to promote a domestic policy and an institutional environment that encourage diversification and liberalization of the trade and export sectors and enhance competitiveness;

Expresses the urgent need for supportive international policies to improve the functioning of commodity markets through efficient and transparent price formation mechanisms, including commodity exchanges, and through the use of commodity price risk management instruments;

Urges developed countries to continue to support the commodity diversification and liberalization efforts of developing countries, especially African countries, in a spirit of common purpose and efficiency, inter alia, by providing technical and financial assistance for the preparatory phase of their commodity diversification programmes;

Urges producers and consumers of individual commodities to intensify their efforts to reinforce mutual cooperation and assistance;

Reiterates the importance of maximizing the contribution of the commodity sector to economic growth and sustainable development, while continuing with diversification efforts, in developing countries, especially in commodity-dependent countries, and, in this respect, stresses that:

International support for the efforts of developing countries towards the industrial transformation of their commodities is required to increase their export revenues and to improve their competitiveness with a view to facilitating their integration into the global economy;

In the context of the process of trade liberalization, the use of trade-distorting policies and practices, including tariff peaks, tariff escalations and non-tariff barriers, should be minimized as they have negative effects on the ability of developing countries to diversify their exports and to undertake the required restructuring of their commodity sector and as they could also adversely impact liberalization measures undertaken by commodity-dependent developing countries;

In the light of the process of multilateral trade liberalization, which has led to the diminution of differentials accorded by preferred trade regimes, there is a need to take measures, as appropriate and consistent with international obligations, to address that diminution, in particular by strengthening technical assistance to and by addressing supply-side constraints faced by commodity-dependent developing countries, in order to improve the competitiveness of their commodity sector and to overcome difficulties encountered in their diversification programmes;

In line with Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Governments should have as their objective to ensure that trade and environmental policies are mutually supportive so as to achieve sustainable development; in so doing, their environmental policies and measures with a potential trade impact should not be used for protectionist purposes;

Effective financial cooperation to facilitate the management by commodity-dependent countries of excessive fluctuations in commodity export earnings should be maintained and further pursued;

Technical cooperation in the areas of transfer of new technologies in production processes and training for technical, managerial and commercial staff of developing countries is of paramount importance for quality improvements in the commodity sector;

Expansion of South-South trade and investment in commodities enhances complementarities and offers opportunities for intersectoral linkages within and among exporting countries;

There is a need to promote research and development, to provide infrastructure and support services and to encourage investment, including joint ventures in developing countries engaged in the commodity and commodity-processing sectors;

Encourages the Common Fund for Commodities, in cooperation with the International Trade Centre, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and other relevant bodies, to direct its commodity development programmes more towards commodity sector diversification projects, as well as to promote commodity market development in developing countries, with particular focus on the needs of least developed countries, and to explore effective ways and means of using the resources of the First Account of the Common Fund;

Invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, within its mandate, to provide assistance to developing countries in the financing of commodity diversification and to include issues related to commodities in the provision of analytical support and technical assistance to developing countries in their preparation for effective participation in multilateral trade negotiations and in formulating a positive agenda for future trade negotiations;

Also invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to consider issues related to commodities in the preparation for its tenth session, to be held in Thailand in the year 2000;

Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to report to the General Assembly at its fifty–fifth session on world commodity trends and prospects;

Decides to include the question of commodities in the provisional agenda of its fifty-fifth session.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents