DEVELOPING COUNTRIES" FAITH IN MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM IN URGENT NEED OF BOLSTERING, COMMITTEE HEARS

Press Release
GA/EF/2895

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES’ FAITH IN MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM IN URGENT NEED OF BOLSTERING, COMMITTEE HEARS

Delegates Also Consider Draft Texts on Second African Industrial Development Decade, Disaster Reduction, El Niño

The fear of global recession arising from the Asian financial crisis might have faded, but it was still necessary to work to restore the confidence of the developing countries in the multilateral trading system, the representative of Thailand told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning as it considered trade and development.

Speaking on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said that the tendency of developing countries to move away from openness towards a slowing down of trade liberalization must not be allowed to continue. Current imbalances in the multilateral trading and financial system, which created asymmetries and biases against developing countries, must also be addressed.

Ghana’s representative said that prescriptions for free trade and the market seemed to apply only to developing countries. Certainly, those prescriptions had been wielded with conviction by the developed countries only in areas where they dominated world production and distribution. Their exploitation of ambiguities and loopholes in the use of anti-dumping procedures, as well as unilateral imposition of health and safety standards which targeted developing countries and countries with economies in transition, added to the imbalance in the assumption of trade obligations under the Uruguay Round of talks.

Two tightly linked issues of concern for the Rio Group of Latin American countries, on the eve of the Seattle World Trade Organization Meeting and the Tenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X), were market access and the development of the multilateral trade system, Mexico’s representative said. Improved market access was essential if a truly free and fair multilateral trade system was to be established.

Many developing countries were today more committed to a rule-based multilateral trading system than major developed trading partners, for whom unilateralism had always been an alternative and a temptation, stated India’s representative. The WTO’s rules and regimes in new disciplines, such as the

Second Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/EF/2895 39th Meeting (AM) 12 November 1999

protection of intellectual property rights, were unbalanced. A high premium had been placed on industrial innovations and patenting; little had been done to afford the same protection to biodiversity and traditional and indigenous knowledge that constituted the base of the biotechnological revolution in agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

Albrecht Horn, Deputy Director, Division for Public Economics and Public Administration, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries. Deep concern had been expressed about the potential and actual adverse effects of those measures on developing countries and on the structure of international relations, especially in the area of trade and development. The practice of secondary boycotts against third-party States should be strongly discouraged.

The representative of Libya said that the use of unilateral coercive economic measures had not only constrained development and social welfare, but also aimed at imposing hegemony over the developmental prospects of developing countries. The use of such measures adversely affected the economy and development efforts of developing countries. They had a general negative impact on international economic cooperation and on worldwide efforts to move towards a non-discriminatory and open multilateral trading system.

Also this morning, draft resolutions were introduced by the representative of Guyana (on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China) on the report of the Economic and Social Council; the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa; the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction: successor arrangements; international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon; and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

In addition, the representative of Egypt introduced a draft resolution on the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Guyana (on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China), United States, Russian Federation and Norway. The observer for the European Community also spoke, on behalf of the European Union and associated States.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. to continue its consideration of trade and development.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to continue its consideration of trade and development. (For background information, see Press Release GA/EF/2894 issued on 11 November.)

It was also expected to hear the introduction of a number of draft resolutions. First, there is the text on the report of the Economic and Social Council (document A/C.2/54/L.31), sponsored by Guyana, on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China. By its terms, the Assembly would take note of Council decision 1999/277 on the report of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development, which is to be transmitted to the Commission on Sustainable Development. Also, it would request the Commission to consider, at its eighth session, the relevant part of the Committee’s report, bearing in mind the recommendations contained in Council resolutions 1999/47, 1999/48 and 1999/49 of 28 July and General Assembly resolution 50/126 of 20 December 1995, and to submit to the Assembly at its fifty-fifth session, through the Council, a report for its consideration.

Secondly, it had before it a text on the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (document A/C.2/54/L.27), also sponsored by Guyana, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. It would have the Assembly call on the international community, the African Development Bank and other relevant regional institutions to support the implementation of the programme for the Second Decade and the Plan of Action of the Alliance for Africa’s Industrialization, including the outcome of the Conference on Industrial Partnerships and Investment in Africa.

It would also call on the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to strengthen its close working relationship with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other relevant multilateral institutions, with the participation of their sovereign member States, for the provision of technical assistance to African countries, particularly the least developed countries, to enhance their capacity to overcome technical barriers to trade in industrial and other products, and for alleviating supply-side constraints and promoting industrial competitiveness within the context of the integrated framework initiative.

The Assembly would invite donor countries, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and United Nations funds and programmes, to support the efforts of the African countries to intensify and expand industrial cooperation among themselves. Further, it would request UNIDO and the European Commission for Africa, in coordination with the United Nations system, to support African countries in the implementation of the relevant recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General.

Thirdly, the Committee had before it a text, sponsored by Guyana, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and Mexico on the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction: successor arrangements (document A/C.2/54/L.29). By its terms, the Assembly would decide to maintain the observance of the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction on the second Wednesday of October. It would call on governments, in cooperation with the United Nations system, and non-governmental organizations to assist the Secretary-General and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs to implement a comprehensive strategy to maximize international cooperation in the field of natural disasters, based on an effective division of labour, from prevention to early warning, response, mitigation, rehabilitation and reconstruction, including through the development and strengthening of regional approaches that take into account regional, subregional, national and local circumstances and needs.

In addition, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to solicit the required inputs from governments, the relevant organizations of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations to further optimize and disseminate listings of organizations of civil protection at all levels, with updated inventories of available resources, to provide assistance in the event of natural disasters. It would also request the Secretary-General to further optimize and disseminate all the necessary information, including handbooks, that guide the international community at large in the effective management of international cooperation in the fields of disaster prevention, early warning, response, mitigation, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Furthermore, the Assembly would endorse the proposals put forward in the Secretary-General’s report to ensure the swift establishment of future arrangements for disaster reduction,as well as functional continuity for the effective implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. It would also endorse the Secretary-General’s proposal to establish an inter- agency task force and inter-agency secretariat for disaster reduction, for an initial period during the biennium 2000-2001, and to undertake a review of these temporary arrangements after the first year of operations, with a view to submitting proposals on adjustments regarding their definite shape.

By the terms of another draft text, also sponsored by Guyana, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and Mexico, on international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon (document A/C.2/54/L.29), the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to take all necessary measures for the establishment of the international research centre on El Niño at Guayaquil, Ecuador, and call on the international community to provide financial, technical and scientific assistance and cooperation for this purpose. It would also request him to continue the full implementation of Assembly resolutions 52/200 and 53/185, as an integral part of the agreed arrangements after the conclusion of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

By the terms of another text, sponsored by Guyana, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, on the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (document A/C.2/54/L.30), the Assembly would request the Board of Trustees to continue to attract experts from developing countries, and countries with economies in transition, for the preparation of the relevant training materials for the programmes and activities of the Institute, and stress that the Institute’s courses should primarily focus on development issues. It would also request the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Institute and with United Nations funds and programmes, to continue to explore ways and means systematically to utilize the Institute in the execution of training and capacity-building programmes. Further, it would request the Secretary-General to consider reclassification of the post of Executive Director, to make the level commensurate with the qualifications and increasing responsibilities required, and underline the need to ensure continuity in the management of the Institute.

The Assembly would renew its call to the Secretary-General to continue to explore all possible ways and means to provide additional facilities to the Institute for maintaining its offices and for conducting programmes and training courses that are provided at no cost to States and to their representatives accredited to United Nations Offices in New York, Nairobi, Geneva and Vienna. It would also renew its appeal to all governments, particularly those of developed countries, and to private institutions that have not yet contributed financially or otherwise to the Institute to give it their generous financial and other support, and urge the States that interrupted their voluntary contributions to consider resuming them in view of the successful restructuring and revitalization of the Institute.

Lastly, the Committee had before it a text sponsored by Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Comoros, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Palestine on the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources (document A/C.2/54/L.32). By its terms, the Assembly would call on Israel, the occupying Power, not to exploit, to cause loss or depletion of or to endanger the natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan. Also, it would reaffirm the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the population of the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources, including land and water.

Further, the Assembly would recognize the right of the Palestinian people to claim restitution as a result of any exploitation, loss or depletion of, or danger to, their natural resources, and express the hope that this issue will be dealt with in the framework of the final status negotiation between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

Introduction of Draft Resolutions

GEORGE TALBOT (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, introduced the text on the report of the Economic and Social Council.

He then introduced the text on the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa. He hoped the draft would lead to further practical steps and concrete support by the international community for African industrial development. He trusted that it would provide the basis for consensus adoption by the Committee.

DONNETTE CRITCHLOW (Guyana), also speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, introduced the text on the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction: successor arrangements.

Next, she introduced the draft text on international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon. Like other forms of natural disasters, the El Niño phenomenon had been receiving much attention by the Group since it impacted on their ability to advance development. It was in that context that the Group presented the text.

Mr. TALBOT then introduced the text on UNITAR. There had been general satisfaction with the work of the Institute, and he trusted that in discussing the text it would be possible to generate that expression into a consensus adoption by the Committee.

HAZEM FAHMY (Egypt) introduced the text on the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources. He noted that the United States should not have been listed as a co-sponsor of the text.

ALBRECHT HORN, Deputy Director, Division for Public Economics and Public Administration, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries (document A/54/486). He said that governments of all States had been invited to provide their views or any other relevant information on the issue. In addition, relevant organizations, programmes and agencies inside and outside the United Nations system were also invited to provide information and analyses on recent developments in the subject area. Moreover, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs had convened an ad hoc expert group meeting on the subject.

He said that the expert group had noted the low level of effectiveness of unilateral coercive economic measures that were often counter-productive in bringing about desired policy changes. In particular, the group expressed its deep concern about the potential and actual adverse effects of unilateral coercive economic measures on developing countries and the structure of international relations, especially in the area of trade and development. The use of unilateral economic measures, as a means of political and economic coercion, especially the practice of secondary boycotts against third-party States, should be strongly discouraged.

The expert group had agreed that multifaceted problems raised by the imposition of coercive economic measures, including their economic, social, humanitarian, legal and political implications, deserved sustained attention by the international community and multilateral bodies concerned, both within and outside the United Nations system. Analytic work at the specialized and interdisciplinary levels should focus on conceptual and methodological issues of assessing the effects of coercive economic measures on the affected countries and on the system of international economic cooperation as a whole.

Statements

S.R. INSANALLY (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that the forthcoming Third World Trade Organization Ministerial Meeting in Seattle provided an opportunity for making development and the concerns of developing countries a central focus of any new round of trade negotiations. Such a focus was essential to building an open international trading system, whose benefits were equitably distributed. Given the imbalanced impact of globalization, and specific aspects of a number of the agreements that had been concluded in the context of the Uruguay Round, many developing countries continued to have a vital stake in a revision of the impact of those agreements.

He said that in dealing with the current challenges posed by trade liberalization, UNCTAD’s “positive trade agenda”, which served to link trade agreements to development priorities and concerns in extremely relevant issues, was focused on such goals as the reduction of tariffs and the removal of domestic export subsidies. That observation was particularly pertinent since there was an increasing tendency to expand the negotiating domain of the WTO, to introduce issues that could be more appropriately dealt with in development- oriented organizations such as UNCTAD.

While the Secretary-General’s report covered a number of important issues, the analysis could have gone much further in highlighting the weaknesses of some of the assumptions underlying market fundamentalism, since there was a growing consensus that some of the current approaches to trade liberalization had had a negative impact on a number of developing countries. That situation would need to be corrected through the adoption of a more balanced policy framework, he said. The reality was that the concentration of trade negotiations within the WTO had also tended to introduce a preoccupation with international trade rules and their enforcement -- instead of a concern about their development impact and the equitable distribution of the economic benefits deriving from the process of trade liberalization.

That, he continued, reflected a significant change from the pre-Uruguay Round interests, in which UNCTAD played such a critical role in highlighting the development dimension of the trade agenda, based on its emphasis on the role of differential tariffs, concessional financing, measures to deal with commodities of interest to the developing countries, the transfer of technology, and restrictive business practices.

RICHARD WYATT, Observer for the European Community, speaking on behalf of the European Union and Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta, noted that during the financial disturbances of 1997-1998 markets had remained open and protectionist pressures were resisted. That fact clearly underlined the value of a trading system based on non-discriminatory rules, agreed by all its members. But there was a need to ensure that an appropriate balance between further liberalization of trade and the strengthening of multilateral rules contributed to the reduction of poverty, environmental protection, social progress and consumer health. In taking those concerns into account, the WTO would be better able to respond to the challenges resulting from rapid and fundamental economic and technological change.

It was important to ensure that the new round of trade negotiations responded to the particular interests and concerns of developing countries, he said, and that a development agenda was reflected in all areas of negotiation. The developed countries should be open to consider constructively, as part of a comprehensive package, proposals from developing countries aimed at their fuller integration into the multilateral trading system. That would include proposals to make special and differential treatment more operational and to improve market access in areas of interest to developing countries.

Negotiations should begin on a basic framework of binding core principles and rules on domestic competition law and policy and its enforcement, he said. The WTO should aim at developing common approaches on anti-competitive practices with a significant impact on international trade and investment, as well as on the promotion of international cooperation. Greater policy coherence was essential to promote an open and stable economic policy framework and to integrate developing countries in the world economy. It required closer cooperation between international organizations in trade-related areas to enhance the complementarity and mutual supportiveness of policies intended to further trade liberalization.

KWABENA OCEI-DANQUAH (Ghana) said it seemed that the prescriptions for free trade and the market applied only to developing countries. Certainly, they had been wielded with conviction only by developed countries in areas where they dominated world production and distribution. The exploitation of ambiguities and loopholes in the use of anti-dumping procedures, as well as unilateral imposition of health and safety standards which targeted developing countries and countries with economies in transition, had added to the lack of balance in the assumption of trade obligations under the Uruguay Round. It was the same with the application of quotas and voluntary export restraints. The special and differential provisions of the Multilateral Trade Agreements remained a “best endeavour” commitment, and unless they were operationalized, their benefits would remain largely on paper.

In some developed countries today, the ability of leaders to promote free trade was constrained by reactions of fear and resistance from those who especially stood to lose their jobs from fair competition. There was a need to further study and analyse the development dimension of international investment arrangements, he said. That should include identifying ways to introduce flexibility into international investment agreements and trade-related investment measures in the Agreement on Trade-related Investment Measures to ensure a development dimension. Other measures which required attention included helping the developing countries to take advantage of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism in the WTO, as well as improving the system of standard setting and surveillance to ensure that it was not used as a protectionist measure.

Governments were responsible for mediating unfair market outcomes,he said, and their recognition of the special development circumstances of individual countries under trade arrangements was expected. Similarly, it was the responsibility of governments to ensure that those sectors which benefited most from the liberalization in world trade should support the transformation needs of other sectors of their respective economies, which must necessarily lose from liberalization.

MICHAEL GALLAGHER (United States) said that his country was committed to ensuring that the forthcoming Seattle meeting lifted living standards and promoted opportunity throughout the developing world, particularly in the least developed nations. For the world trading system to have legitimacy, the family of nations that benefited from trade must be expanded. Increased trade opportunities would stimulate economic growth in developing countries. However, that alone would not be enough to ensure that all countries achieved environmentally sustainable development, or that the benefits of the global economy would be internally realized. Governments must play their part in creating the necessary conditions through their domestic policies to promote competition, encourage foreign direct investment and stimulate the private sector.

A deepening dialogue between the least developed countries and their partners confirmed the importance of economic growth, he said. However, it also confirmed that growth must be broadly based so that it reduced poverty and increased household incomes. It must be the kind of growth that created jobs and provided for the increased revenue governments needed to expand and improve education, health and other social services. The United States supported UNCTAD’s focus on bringing more nations into the open trading system and on helping developing countries build the capacities needed to enhance trade opportunities. The UNCTAD had conducted significant research and analysis on the development implications of trade and foreign direct investment trends. Given the importance of that analysis, he urged UNCTAD to provide a more complete picture of the overall benefits of trade liberalization, as well as a better understanding of the critical policy choices that confronted both developing and developed countries.

NIKOLAI V. TCHOULKOV (Russian Federation) said that the main problem continued to be maintenance of stable, predictable and non-discriminatory conditions for the market access of commodities and services for all participants in international trade, including developing countries and economies in transition. Progress in that field was very slow. Even after the establishment of the WTO, there continued to be unjustified recourse to protectionist actions -- in the form of anti-dumping procedures, technical barriers and imposition of voluntary export restrictions -- to secure internal markets against undesirable imports.

The process of liberalization, he said, must advance in a balanced manner, both in the interest of achieving greater stability of international trade as a whole and of assuring the sustainable development of national economies in all regions of the world. Strengthening the universality of the multilateral trading system by accession of new members to the WTO was important. The forthcoming Ministerial Conference in Seattle must give new political impetus to that process in order to accelerate the accession talks now under way. Requirements imposed on countries seeking membership should not go beyond the level of obligations of present WTO members.

MAURICIO ESCANERO (Mexico), speaking on behalf of the Rio Group of Latin American countries, said that there were two important questions of particular concern for the Group on the eve of the Seattle WTO Meeting and the tenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The first was market access. The second was the development of a multilateral trade system, in light of the new round of multilateral trade negotiations, including the development of a positive agenda for those negotiations. The problem of market access and the development of a new system were tightly linked. Aside from agreement on the agenda of the new negotiations, improved market access was essential if a multilateral fair trade system was to be established. Only then would the new round truly merit the name “development round”.

It was essential, he continued, that every effort be made to comply with the Ministerial Communiqué issued by the Economic and Social Council to improve the market access of developing countries. The use of peak tariffs and tariff escalation, which impeded access in the agriculture sector in particular, must be stopped. In addition, to improve the access of developing countries to the international market, anti-dumping laws, which were being increasingly used as disguised protectionist measures, must be stopped. Especially detrimental was the resort to subsidies on the part of industrialized countries, which severely distorted free trade.

With regard to the development of a multilateral trading system, he said it was important to provide conditions which enabled countries like his own to overcome the destructive effects of the financial crises. It was necessary to establish the price of commodities at remunerative levels. Finally, he highlighted the efforts made in his region in the area of regional integration, based on the principle of open regionalism. The process had succeeded in improving trade in his region, as well as with other regions. The Group considered that of importance, since it emphasized the role of international trade as a vital element of development.

ALI AL-AUJALI (Libya) said that UNCTAD would have a critical role in supporting developing countries in the multilateral trade negotiations following the Seattle meeting. Such support was critical for an equitable, balanced and implementable outcome of any future trade negotiations. It was important to cast the need for greater support to developing countries against the backdrop of certain major realities confronting the world economy and developing countries. First, the growing instability of the international financial system continued to threaten global economic prospects. Secondly, the manner in which the international trading system had evolved in the post-Second World War period –- with a number of serious asymmetries, imbalances and biases against developing countries -- had become embedded. Third, recent developments in the world economy demonstrated once again the close interrelationships between trade and finance. Finally, for a large majority of developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, the goal of effective, speedy and beneficial integration into the world economy would remain a mirage unless their support capabilities, infrastructure and institutional weaknesses were urgently addressed.

In recent years, he said, the phenomenon of imposing unilateral coercive measures and/or threatening their use in the context of international economic relations had grown. That, not only constrained development and social welfare, but it also aimed at imposing hegemony over the developmental prospects of developing countries. The United States had so far imposed such sanctions on more than 65 countries. The use of such measures adversely affected the economy and development efforts of developing countries, and had a general negative impact on international economic cooperation and on worldwide efforts to move towards a non-discriminatory and open multilateral trading system. He called on the international community to take further measures to stop those policies, which contradicted with international law.

ASDA JAYANAMA (Thailand), speaking on behalf of the Association of Sout- East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said that although fears of global recession arising from the spreading Asian financial crisis had faded, there was still a need to work vigorously to restore the faith and confidence of the developing countries in the multilateral trading system. There was now a dangerous tendency among developing countries to move away from openness and towards a slowing down of trade liberalization. That trend should not be allowed to continue. Existing imbalances in the multilateral trading and financial system, which created asymmetries and biases against developing countries, needed to be addressed.

He said that the new round of trade negotiations should adequately address the concerns of developing countries for effective implementation of the special and differential treatment provisions of the WTO Agreements. The negotiations should also focus on support for developing countries' capacity-building and on technical assistance, so as to facilitate their ability to participate fully in the WTO. Direct investments were crucial to sustaining the pace of economic, industrial, infrastructure and technology development. The ASEAN countries had exerted their best efforts to ensure that the region was open for foreign investments.

OLE PETER KOLBY (Norway) said that the multilateral trading regime had in many respects been a success. However, it faced some important challenges. The effective participation of all developing countries members of the WTO must be secured, with particular attention to the needs of the least developed countries. Three broad courses of action presented themselves: facilitation of market access for products from developing countries, in particular the least developed countries; more resources, further coordination and better targeting of trade-related technical assistance; and special attention to the particular needs of developing countries, through special and differential treatment provisions, in implementing existing rules and disciplines of the WTO, as well as in the possible development of rules in new areas.

In the upcoming UNCTAD X negotiations, Norway would particularly emphasize the interlinkage between national policies and the international economic environment, he said. Good governance, sound macroeconomic policies and improved external economic conditions for trade must go hand in hand. He saw some scope for improvement of UNCTAD’s existing structures, in particular in regard to the interaction between expert meetings, the commissions and the Trade and Development Board.

CHANDRESH KUMARI (India) said that many developing countries were today more committed, in letter and in spirit, to a rule-based multilateral trading system than major developed trading partners, for whom unilateralism had always been an alternative and a temptation. The WTO’s rules and regimes in new disciplines, such as the protection of Intellectual Property Rights, had been unbalanced. A high premium had been placed on industrial innovations and patenting; little had been done to afford the same protection to biodiversity and traditional and indigenous knowledge that constituted the base of the biotechnological revolution in agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Much of that technology was often derived from biogenetic resources and indigenous traditional knowledge in developing countries.

It was crucial to ensure that the flexibility of the architecture of trade in services remained intact, she said. The restrictions imposed on the movement of natural persons must be addressed as well. Commitments relating to the mode of supply and of movement of natural persons needed to become sector- and category-specific. Economic needs tests must be removed, or specific criteria scheduled for their use. The “rising tide lifts all boats” approach was not an easy path, but bold leadership, purposeful cooperation and empathy could centre- stage that approach, generating benefits for all.

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