The work of UNCTAD, under the Officer-in-Charge, Mr. Carlos Fortin, was dominated during the past year by the forty-first session of the Trade and Development Board and its subsidiary bodies, and the United Nations International Symposium on Trade Efficiency, as well as by the preparatory process for the ninth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. I have proposed for approval by the General Assembly the appointment of Mr. Rubens Ricupero as Secretary-General of UNCTAD. His appointment would be effective as at 15 September 1995.
During this period, the Trade and Development Board undertook a preliminary analysis and assessment of the final act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. The States members of UNCTAD recognized the important role it could play in the post-Uruguay Round period in enhancing the ability of developing countries to take maximum advantage of these new opportunities and in recommending measures to mitigate the consequences on countries that could be adversely affected. The respective roles and functions of UNCTAD and the World Trade Organization have been more clearly delineated.
UNCTAD also started implementation of the decisions taken during the mid-term review of the Cartagena Commitment in May 1994. The commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of UNCTAD at the first part of the Board's forty-first session in September was the occasion for States members to reaffirm their full support to the organization and to look to its future orientation. Finally, the preparatory process for the ninth session of the Conference, to be held in the spring of 1996, started in a spirit of cooperation and with the conviction that the Conference should address in an innovative and action-oriented way the economic issues facing the international community.
The Trade and Development Board, at the first part of its forty-first session, in September 1994, adopted a declaration in which States members reaffirmed their commitment to the primary development objectives of UNCTAD and undertook to reinforce their political support for the organization and for its important role in strengthening the global Partnership for Development by addressing the economic and development problems of all countries, in particular the developing countries.
The Board's discussion on interdependence was based on the Trade and Development Report 1994. The Board reviewed the east Asian growth and development experience and concluded that there was a wide variety of experience in east Asia: while in some fast-growing economies the policy regime had been more liberal, several Governments had successfully played active and interventionist roles.
The Board concluded its policy review of technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD by noting that the agency's technical cooperation was greatly valued by developing countries and countries in transition and had also attracted increasing support in the last few years from donor countries and institutions. Accordingly, the Board emphasized the need to strengthen UNCTAD technical cooperation.
At the second part of its forty-first session, in March 1995, the Board endorsed agreed conclusions on trade policies, structural adjustment and economic reform, and on the UNCTAD contribution to the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. The Board also agreed on preparatory action for a high-level intergovernmental meeting to be held in September to undertake a mid-term review of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s. It also carried out a policy review of the work of UNCTAD on sustainable development. On trade policies, structural adjustment and economic reform, a broad convergence emerged on a number of conclusions. The Board concluded that Governments should take a positive approach to structural adjustment. A policy framework favourable to structural adjustment could facilitate the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements, lower resistance to further liberalization and better prepare economies for future negotiations on improving market access.
On preparations for the ninth session of the Conference, the Board reached agreement on the provisional agenda for the Conference. The theme of the ninth session will be promoting growth and sustainable development in a globalizing and liberalizing world economy. The Government of South Africa announced its decision to make an offer, in principle, to host the Conference. States members underlined the importance of holding the session in Africa and expressed their full support for South Africa as the host country.
The United Nations International Symposium on Trade Efficiency was held at Columbus, Ohio, from 17 to 21 October 1994. More than 2,000 decision makers from both the public and private sectors participated in the Symposium and in the other parallel events: the Global Executive Trade Summit, the Global Summit for Mayors and the World Trade Efficiency and Technology Exhibition. The Symposium was chaired by the Secretary of Commerce of the United States of America. The unprecedented involvement of the private sector and of local governments made the Symposium a unique forum for bringing practical solutions to some of the problems encountered in international trade. The Symposium adopted the Columbus Ministerial Declaration and launched the Global Trade Point Network. Together, these documents constitute a blueprint for efficient international trade in the next century.
The Standing Committee on Commodities held its third session from 31 October to 4 November 1994. In its agreed conclusions, the Committee requested UNCTAD to continue its analysis of ways to improve the competitiveness of natural products, giving priority to the theoretical and practical aspects of the internalization of ecological externalities. UNCTAD held a number of commodity-related meetings under its auspices. In January 1994, the fourth session of the United Nations Conference on Tropical Timber adopted the International Tropical Timber Agreement and, as at 31 December 1994, 12 States had signed the new Agreement and one had become formally party to it, although conditions for its entry into force are not yet met. At the end of the second session of the United Nations Conference on Natural Rubber, in October 1994, 53 out of the 67 articles for a successor agreement had been cleared in principle. The Conference resumed its work, under UNCTAD auspices, at a third session, in February 1995, where 31 countries, representing nearly 90 per cent of world trade in natural rubber, adopted the 1995 International Natural Rubber Agreement aimed at stabilizing prices. The new Agreement was opened for signature at United Nations Headquarters on 1 April 1995. Other commodity-related meetings held under UNCTAD auspices dealt with iron ore and tungsten.
The Standing Committee on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries held its second session from 14 to 18 November 1994. The Committee endorsed a set of recommendations aimed at fostering economic cooperation among developing countries. Furthermore, it concluded, inter alia, that developing countries should adopt strategies that combine trade liberalization with other measures in the areas of production, investment, transport and communications, marketing and distribution and trade information. Special attention should be given to measures for increasing the effectiveness of trade liberalization regimes in regional integration arrangements and for increasing South-South trade.
At the end of the thirteenth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Restrictive Business Practices, held from 24 to 28 October 1994, competition experts launched the preparatory process for the Third United Nations Conference to Review All Aspects of the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices, which is scheduled to take place in November 1995. The main document prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat dealt with the role of competition policy in economic reforms in developing and other countries. The Intergovernmental Group held its fourteenth session from 6 to 10 March 1995. Anti-trust experts made a number of proposals for strengthening multilateral cooperation in the area of competition laws and policies.
The three new ad hoc working groups, established in accordance with a decision of the Board taken at the resumed second part of its fortieth session, in May 1994, commenced their work. The Ad Hoc Working Group on Trade, Environment and Development held its first session from 28 November to 2 December 1994. The Working Group examined international cooperation on eco-labelling and eco-certification programmes, and market opportunities for environmentally friendly products. The session emphasized the importance of improved transparency in eco-labelling and the need for developing countries to be more closely associated with the elaboration of environmental criteria having an impact on trade and development.
The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Role of Enterprises in Development held its first session from 3 to 7 April 1995, focusing upon the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. The Working Group examined the role of the State in creating an enabling environment for the promotion of entrepreneurship, as well as the viable development of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Commission on International Investment and Transnational Corporations held its twenty-first session from 24 to 28 April, its first session in its new role as a subsidiary body of the Trade and Development Board. The Commission examined recent trends in foreign direct investment and exchanged experiences on ways of attracting such investment.
In 1994, UNCTAD expenditure on technical cooperation amounted to some $22 million. The largest single source of funds continues to be UNDP, although the trend observed in recent years towards increased contributions by other donors has continued. As part of the programme, UNCTAD provided support to a number of countries in assessing the results of the Uruguay Round, and in preparing themselves for new issues subject to negotiations in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization. Continued assistance was provided in several aspects of trade policies, including competition policy, the linkage between trade and the environment, and the utilization of the generalized system of preferences. Several new packages under the UNCTAD training programme TRAINFORTRADE were developed and delivered. In the area of commodities, particular attention was devoted to the use of risk-management instruments.
With the transfer to UNCTAD of the United Nations activities related to transnational corporations and to science and technology, the corresponding technical cooperation programmes, including advisory services on foreign investment, have become an integral part of UNCTAD technical cooperation. The UNCTAD software for management and analysis of debt was enhanced and installed in a number of countries. UNCTAD has also continued to provide support to countries in the areas of shipping, port management (notably in Somalia) and cargo tracking, with the training aspects being undertaken in most cases through the TRAINMAR programme. The largest single programme undertaken by UNCTAD is that on customs modernization and computerization, known as ASYCUDA. In line with the process leading to and following up after the World Symposium on Trade Efficiency, support and advice were given to a number of countries in the establishment of trade points.
At its tenth executive session, held on 4 May, the Trade and Development Board agreed that appropriate exploratory work should be undertaken on such new and emerging issues on the international trade agenda within the preparatory process for the ninth session of UNCTAD. Three categories of issues were identified. The first consists of issues that give rise to demands for domestic policy harmonization. Among those issues are investment and competition policies and labour standards. The second category includes issues that reflect concern about the lack of coherence among global policy objectives. The third consists of issues affecting the ability of countries, especially the least developed countries and others with weak economies, to pursue national goals effectively.
The Commission on Science and Technology for Development held its second session from 15 to 24 May. (The Commission, a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council, now meets at Geneva as a result of the designation of UNCTAD as the United Nations focal point for science and technology-related activities.) Topics considered by the Commission at that session included the use of science and technology to help meet basic needs of low-income populations, improving women's access to science and technology, and the use of science and technology towards sustainable land-management practices. The Commission decided to focus its work programme for the next two years on recent developments in information technologies and their implications for economic growth, social cohesion, cultural values and society as a whole.
The Standing Committee on Developing Services Sectors: Shipping held its third session from 6 to 9 June to examine progress in policy reforms for enhancing competitive services in the fields of shipping, ports and multimodal transport in developing countries and countries in transition. In particular, support was pledged by major donors for the TRAINMAR programme, through which UNCTAD enhances the management capacities of developing countries in the field of shipping, ports and multimodal transport. The role of UNCTAD in the development of the advanced cargo information system was also praised. As this was the last session of the Committee before the ninth session of UNCTAD, the Committee reviewed work carried out since 1992. It established a set of complementary activities to be taken up by UNCTAD during the period leading up to the ninth session and suggested issues for further deliberation at that session.
The Ad Hoc Working Group on Trade, Environment and Development held its second session from 6 to 9 June, to examine the effects of environmental policies on market access and competitiveness. The UNCTAD secretariat was requested to outline positive measures that could be used as alternatives to trade-related measures for environmental protection for consideration at the next meeting of the Working Group, to be held in October.
The Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation held its third session from 12 to 16 June to identify national and international measures to alleviate poverty through international trade and official development assistance. As this was the last session of the Committee before the ninth session of UNCTAD, the meeting reviewed the work carried out since 1992 by the Committee and suggested that the ninth session should consider whether the present form of intergovernmental machinery for addressing poverty alleviation in UNCTAD was the appropriate one or whether some alternative arrangement could be envisaged. Poverty and increased marginalization will feature high on the agenda of the ninth session.
In cooperation with UNDP and the United Nations regional economic commissions, UNCTAD organized the Symposium for Land-locked and Transit Developing countries from 14 to 16 June, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/169 of 21 December 1993. The objectives of the Symposium were to analyse weaknesses in the operational, administrative, regulatory and institutional framework that is currently in place in the transit sector and to propose the future course of action at the national, bilateral, subregional and international levels. Participating countries agreed to develop a global framework for cooperation on transit transport with the support of the international community. UNCTAD has been requested to convene transit corridor-specific consultative groups that will identify priority areas for action at the national and subregional level and will establish the framework for the implementation of agreed measures. At a meeting of governmental experts from land-locked and transit developing countries, held from 19 to 22 June, the recommendations of the Symposium were widely endorsed.
The Standing Committee on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries held its third session from 19 to 23 June to discuss ways to enlarge and deepen monetary, financial, investment and enterprise cooperation. The agreed conclusions contain suggestions for strengthening financial and monetary cooperation among developing countries, as well as at the level of investment and business.
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