International Trade and Development

A/RES/62/184No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 52aInternational trade and development, published in 2008.

What other versions does this mandate have?

33 versions · 1994–2025

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

2025A/RES/80/121International trade and developmentLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/195International trade and developmentCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/134International trade and developmentCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/77/151International trade and developmentCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/190International trade and developmentCompare with previous version

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

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2008.

2008A/63/324International trade and development report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

25 operative paragraphs

Expresses serious concern at the lack of substantial progress on the trade negotiations of the World Trade Organization and considers it a serious setback for the Doha Round, and calls upon the developed countries to demonstrate the flexibility and political will necessary for breaking the current impasse in the negotiations, and also calls upon all members of the World Trade Organization to adhere to the development mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration,5 the decision of the General Council of the World Trade Organization of 1 August 2004 and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, which places development at the heart of the multilateral trading system;

Stresses that in order for the Doha Round to be concluded satisfactorily, the negotiations should result in the establishment of rules and disciplines in the area of agriculture, adhering to the development mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the decision of the General Council of the World Trade Organization of 1 August 2004 and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration;

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

Further 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 the General Council of the World Trade Organization of 1 August 2004 and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration;

Underlines the fact that the increasing interdependence of national economies in a globalizing world and the emergence of rule-based regimes for international economic relations have meant that the space for national economic policy, that is, the scope for domestic policies, especially in the areas of trade, investment and industrial development, is now often framed by international disciplines, commitments and global market considerations, that it is for each Government to evaluate the trade-off between the benefits of accepting international rules and commitments and the constraints posed by the loss of policy space, and that it is particularly important for developing countries that all countries take into account the need for appropriate balance between national policy space and international disciplines and commitments;

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 the freedom of trade and investment;

Reaffirms the commitments made at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization5 and at the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, 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 by 2008, also 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, and 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;

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 countries with 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 21 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration;

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, and stresses the need for the implementation of the São Paulo Consensus, in particular paragraphs 66 and 84 thereof, by the relevant international organizations and donors in a multi-stakeholder approach;

Also recognizes the need to ensure that the comparative advantage of developing countries is not undermined by any form of protectionism, including the arbitrary and abusive use of non-tariff measures, non-trade barriers and other standards to unfairly restrict the access of products of developing countries particularly to developed countries’ markets, reaffirms, in this regard, that developing countries should play an increasing role in the formulation of, inter alia, safety, environment and health standards, and recognizes the need to facilitate the increased and meaningful participation of the developing countries in the work of relevant international standard-setting organizations;

Further recognizes that South-South trade should be enhanced and further market access should continue to stimulate South-South trade;

Recognizes the role that a successful conclusion of the ongoing third round of negotiations on the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries can play in South-South trade;

Calls for accelerating the work on the development-related mandate concerning the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, especially on issues of making intellectual property rules fully support the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity; and the issues related to the Agreement and public health afflicting many developing countries, including the least developed countries, especially those issues arising from the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics;

Requests the Secretary-General to present in his report on the implementation of the present resolution the options available with respect to enhancing the role of the United Nations in accelerating the work on the development agenda of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights;

Calls for facilitating the accession of all developing countries that apply for membership in the World Trade Organization, in particular the least developed countries, as well as 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;

Invites donors and beneficiary countries to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on the Aid for Trade Initiative established by the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, which aims to support developing and least developed countries in building their supply and export capacities, including infrastructure and institutions development, and the need to increase their exports, and stresses in this regard the urgent need for its effective operationalization with sufficient additional, non-conditional and predictable funding;

Welcomes the effort being made for operationalization of the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries with increased additional, non-conditional and predictable financial resources to enhance the export and supply capacities of the least developed countries, and urges the development partners to increase their contributions to the Integrated Framework Trust Fund 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, 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 of the Conference;

Welcomes the convening of the twelfth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Accra from 20 to 25 April 2008, and looks forward to the discussion aimed at addressing the opportunities and challenges of globalization for development, especially for developing countries;

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;5

Reaffirms the fundamental role that competition law and policy can play for sound economic development and the validity of the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices, as well as the important and useful role that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development plays in this field, and decides to convene in 2010, under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, a sixth United Nations conference to review all aspects of the Set;

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-third session a report on the implementation of the present resolution and on developments in the multilateral trading system, 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 an official document of the World Trade Organization.

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International Trade and Development

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