Sixty-second General Assembly

Second Committee

13^th Meeting (PM)

TRADE NEGOTIATORS MAY SOON STRIKE DEAL ON SLASHING TRADE BARRIERS, WORLD TRADE

ORGANIZATION CHIEF SAYS DURING SECOND COMMITTEE PANEL DISCUSSION

Committee also Begins Consideration of International Trade and Development

World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this afternoon that trade negotiators were likely to reach a good deal in the next few weeks that would significantly slash trade barriers and deliver on the Doha Development Round’s core development objectives.

During a panel discussion on the theme “Bringing the Doha Development Round to a Successful Conclusion”, Mr. Lamy said there had been “very encouraging progress” on the stalled Doha Round since his last address to the Economic and Social Council in July.  The Chair of the Agriculture Special Session and the Chair of the Special Session on Industrial Goods had issued draft texts to help members realize that what was already on the table was quite substantial.  Intensive negotiations now under way in Geneva were probably the last opportunity to strike a political deal on liberalizing trade in agricultural and industrial products as well as services.

“We are in the end-game of this negotiation when we see governments battling hard and loud over each detail of the results -- appealing not only to their negotiating partners, but also to the public and the world’s press to support their position,” he said.  Negotiators must update and expand the organization’s rulebook across a wide range of trade-related policies and, above all, they must resist protection.  “No World Trade Organization member need fear coming out of this negotiation as a loser -- there is enough flexibility built into the agenda to ensure that there will be gains for everyone.”

The cost of failure was great, he said, warning that all countries involved risked losing huge economic benefits, the weakening of the multilateral trading system and increased protectionism.  Agriculture, a major issue of concern, was pertinent to the ability of many developing countries to enhance export opportunities.  There should be no more agricultural export subsidies by 2013 and many should already be gone by 2010.  Furthermore, the new draft text had been positively welcomed by the “cotton four” because it reflected some of their proposals to cut support for that crop.

Advances in agriculture and non-agricultural market access had allowed members to focus on negotiations in services, rules, trade facilitation and other areas, he continued.  The Doha Round also aimed to correct some of the remaining imbalances in current trade rules in favour of developing countries, and to improve the rules so as to provide authentic market opportunities to developing countries in particular.  With the development dimension permeating all negotiating areas, many of those countries believed that special and differential treatment was essential, and they had put much effort into pushing their platform in the special session of the Conference on Trade and Development.  To reach convergence and build on the progress made, countries needed greater flexibility and must stay focused and realistic.

Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), agreed, saying the Doha Round must not be hampered by disagreement on certain problems.  Delays and the attention they attracted risked compromising the gains already made, such as discussions on the total elimination of export tariffs and on the special treatment of least developed countries.  Those gains represented two to three times those realized in eight years of the Uruguay Round.

To move forward, stakeholders must take a collective stand and all countries must work together since no single country or group of countries would decide the issues on the negotiating table, he said.  Common ground had been established when the Doha Round had begun in 2001, and it was critical that countries and groups of countries realized the many advantages to be gained from a successful conclusion.  The negotiation process itself had already had positive effects, and should not be viewed as a battle between rich and poor countries.  Rather, it was a collective quest to balance the interests of all parties involved.

Participants in the discussion were the representatives of Costa Rica, Burkina Faso, Chile, Benin, Guyana and Algeria.

Kwame Sundaram Jomo, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, was the moderator.

Following the panel discussion, the Committee began its debate on international trade and development under its agenda item on macroeconomic policy questions.

Mr. Supachai introduced the Secretary-General’s report on international trade and development; Petko Draganov (Bulgaria), President of the Trade and Development Board, introduced four of that body’s reports and Rob Vos, Director of Development Policy and Analysis in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries.

The representative of Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, also made a statement during the debate.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m., tomorrow, Friday 26 October, to continue its debate on international trade and development.

Background

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this afternoon to take up international trade and development under its agenda item on macroeconomic policy questions.

Before the Committee was the report of the Trade and Development Board on its fortieth executive session (documents A/62/15 (Part I), A/62/15 (Part I)/Corr.1 and A/62/15 (Part I)/Corr.2), which includes the report of the Panel of Eminent Persons highlighting country and regional representatives’ comments on enhancing the development role and impact of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).  That body’s Secretary-General stresses that the Panel of Eminent Persons had considerable influence on the work of the United Nations High-Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence, providing a clear indication of UNCTAD’s continued importance in technical assistance delivery.

Also before the Committee was the report of the Trade and Development Board on its forty-first executive session (documents A/62/15 (Part II), A/62/15 (Part II)/Corr.1 and A/62/15 (Part II)/Corr.2), which discusses UNCTAD XII, the Organization’s quadrennial conference slated to be held next April in Accra, Ghana, and presents the theme:  addressing the opportunities and challenges of globalization for development; and the sub-themes -- enhancing coherence for sustainable economic development and poverty reduction in global policy-making; key trade and development issues and new realities in the world economy’s geography; enhancing the enabling environment to strengthen productive capacity, trade investment in addition to mobilizing resources and harnessing knowledge for development; and strengthening UNCTAD’s development role, impact and institutional effectiveness.

The Committee also had before it the report of the Trade and Development Board on its forty-second executive session (document A/62/15 (Part III)), which discusses UNCTAD’s activities in favour of Africa and includes a statement delivered by a representative of the Conference’s Secretary-General.

According to the report, the Secretary-General says the international community, including the Group of Eight, have increasingly focused on assisting Africa and in recent years official development assistance (ODA) has risen, albeit mostly in the form of debt relief.  Foreign direct investment flows to Africa have increased, peaking at $40 billion in 2006.

The report quotes the Secretary-General as referring to UNCTAD’s 2007 report on economic development in Africa and underlining the importance of harnessing domestic financial resources to raise additional finance to boost economic development and reduce poverty.  Regarding UNCTAD XII, a key event will be the high-level segment of Heads of State and Government on trade and development for Africa’s prosperity, with discussions centring on investment, ODA, trade, commodities and migration.

Also before the Committee was the report of the Trade and Development Board on its fifty-fourth executive session (document A/62/15 (Part IV)), which covers matters including regional cooperation for development, multi-stakeholder partnerships and UNCTAD’s contribution to the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of major United Nations conferences and summits.

The Secretary-General’s report on unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries (document A/62/210), contains views from representatives of Member States, Regional Commissions, United Nations bodies and other international organizations in response to a request by the Secretary-General for information on this topic.  Also in the report are relevant analyses from Belarus, Benin, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Myanmar, Qatar, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Also before the Committee was the Secretary-General’s report on international trade and development (document A/62/266), which covers recent developments in international trade and the trading system, particularly the World Trade Organization’s Doha Work Programme and its implications for developing countries.  It states that the Doha Round and the multilateral trading system stand at a critical juncture and an agreement on modalities for agriculture and non-agricultural market access is needed to conclude the Round by the end of 2007.

According to the report, a paradigm shift is under way in the international trading system due to changing world trade structures, investment and production.  The world economy expanded in 2006 due partly to international trade.  Trade among developing countries expanded rapidly, providing enormous development opportunities.  In 2006, developing countries’ per capita income rose by more than 5 per cent, with their share of world output growing to 23 per cent.

In terms of the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015, the report says regional performance varied, with Asia set to exceed poverty targets and Africa falling short despite impressive growth since 2000.  The Doha Round must deliver on its development promises, including through substantial market access and market entry in agriculture, industrial products and services for developing countries.

The Committee also had before it a letter dated 4 April 2007 from the Permanent Representative of Spain addressed to the Secretary-General (document A/62/71—E/2007/46), which contains a summary of the proceedings of the Intergovernmental Conference on Middle-Income Countries held in Madrid on 1 and 2 March 2007.

The letter states that the Conference was convened on the basis of two assumptions:  that cooperation with middle-income countries requires international-level efforts, and that to achieve success, reflection and discussions must be based on analytical efforts to assess the situation of middle-income countries and defining appropriate responses.

According to the letter, the Declaration emanating from the Conference offers 10 conclusions, including that middle-income countries can possibly go beyond the Millennium Development Goals because their level of progress necessitates working with a more complex and ambitious development agenda.  In addition, their diversity requires a more precise characterization to provide clearer guidance to donors; that despite this diversity, areas such as democratic governance and international financial markets call for greater cooperation among middle-income countries; and that the Conference was only the beginning of a process which must be continued, especially with respect to identifying tools for combating poverty.

Statements by Panellists

PASCAL LAMY, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, said that in the next few weeks that body’s members must close a political deal to liberalize trade in agricultural and industrial products as well as trade in services.  They must update and expand the organization’s rulebook across a wide range of trade-related policies.  A good deal that would significantly slash trade barriers and deliver on the Doha Round’s core development objectives was possible and the present chance was probably the last one for a successful conclusion.

He said that since his last address to the Economic and Social Council in July, very encouraging progress had been made across the board.  The Chair of the Agriculture Special Session and the Chair of the Special Session on Industrial Goods had issued draft texts to help members realize that what was already on the table was quite substantial.  Intensive negotiations under way in Geneva were a sure sign that “we are in the end-game of this negotiation when we see governments battling hard and loud over each detail of the results -- appealing not only to their negotiating partners but also to the public and the world’s press to support their position.”

Noting that agriculture was a very important area for the ability of many developing countries to enhance export opportunities, he said agricultural subsidy concessions on the table were twice those accepted during the Uruguay Round.  There should be no more export subsidies by 2013 and many should already be gone by 2010.  Agreement on agricultural subsidies depended on additional United States concessions equivalent to less than a week’s worth of transatlantic trade.  Negotiators had moved from the Uruguay Round process of slashing tariffs according to averages to a general reduction formula of cutting high agricultural tariffs more and lower tariffs less.  The highest agricultural tariff would drop 60 to 70 per cent, compared with 36 per cent on average during the Uruguay Round.  Agreement on agricultural tariffs depended on another handful of percentage reductions on very high tariffs imposed by the European Union and Japan.  On agriculture, there had been progress in putting real numbers on the table.

More progress was expected on such technical issues as “sensitive products”, he said, noting, however, that agreement over a procedure to define those products remained a concern.  Developing countries would receive specific flexibilities such as “special products” and a “special safeguard mechanism”, and members were working on criteria to define them.  Cotton was also a key issue in negotiations, and it had been decided in the Hong Kong talks to eliminate cotton subsidies more rapidly than overall agricultural subsidies.  The new draft text had been positively welcomed by the “cotton four” because it reflected some of their proposals to cut support for cotton.

In the non-agricultural market access negotiations, developing countries were being asked to reduce tariffs on the importation of industrial products to developed as well as other developing countries, he said.  The draft Chair’s text was the subject of much criticism and agreement depended on more percentage reductions in the steepest industrial tariffs of emerging economies such as Brazil, India, South Africa and Argentina.  Those countries would have to implement those concessions over several years.  The concessions would come with a series of flexibilities for developing countries to protect sensitive sectors from industrial tariff cuts as well as flexibilities for small and vulnerable economies and new members.  There would be duty-free quota-free market access for most products from least developed countries.

Advances in agriculture and non-agricultural market access had allowed members to focus on negotiations in services, rules, trade facilitation and other areas, he said.  A successful conclusion of trade facilitation negotiations would help significantly to lower trade transaction costs, of particular importance to small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in developing countries.  Last week World Trade Organization members had decided to enter a new phase of text-based negotiations on that matter.  In services, 30 to 40 large players were engaged in a request-and-offer process to liberalize trade in many sectors.  A few weeks ago World Trade Organization members had mandated the Chair of the services negotiations to come up with a draft text on services.  Negotiations in the rules area were going well, and the Chair of the Rules Committee had announced that his draft text would be issued the first week of December. 

He said the Doha Round also aimed to correct some of the remaining imbalances in current trade rules in favour of developing countries, and to improve the rules so as to give developing countries in particular authentic market opportunities.  With the development dimension permeating all negotiating areas, many developing countries believed that special and differential treatment was essential, and had put much effort into pushing their platform in the special session of the Conference on Trade and Development.  To reach convergence and build on progress made, countries needed greater flexibility and must stay focused and realistic.

In parallel with the Doha round, the “Aid for Trade” package was being put in place to address developing-country bottlenecks, he said.  The package would help developing countries build capacity to reap the benefits of the new trade opportunities offered by the Doha Round and would provide support to adjust the costs resulting from further trade opening.

“No World Trade Organization member need fear coming out of this negotiation as a loser -- there is enough flexibility built into the agenda to ensure that there will be gains for everyone,” he said, stressing the importance of resisting protectionism.  “What remains to be done to conclude the Round is quite modest compared to what is already on the table, which represents two to three times what was achieved in the Uruguay Round.”  However, it was modest compared to the cost of failure -- the loss of huge economic benefits for all countries involved, and the weakening of the multilateral trading system with the risk of an increase in protectionism.

SUPACHAI PANITCHPAKDI, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said it was extremely regrettable that the Doha negotiations had stalled, putting on hold decisions that would affect developing and developed countries alike.  Delays and the attention paid to them risked compromising the gains already made, such as discussions on the total elimination of export tariffs and on the special treatment of least developed countries.  Those gains represented two to three times those realized in eight years of the Uruguay Round.  It had been hoped that negotiators would find inspiration from that preceding round to help them come to conclusions concerning the Doha Development Agenda.

Looking back, he said, the Uruguay Round had failed to monitor a certain number of issues before it, and that might be the case with the current Doha Round.  But it was important that the current Round not be hampered by disagreement on certain problems.  For example, the general agreement on trade in services had been discussed during the Uruguay negotiations but had yet to succeed.

The context had changed, he said, noting that the act of reaching an agreement was an exercise that had grown increasingly dangerous and difficult since the decisions of Uruguay.  To reach a compromise, the negotiators had to operate under pressure and with a sense of urgency not seen during the Uruguay era.  Now the world was in a “golden age” branded by unprecedented growth and it was regrettable that the Doha Round negotiations were laced with a sense of blame and accusations among countries.

He said that to move forward, stakeholders must take a collective stand and all countries must work together since no single country or group of countries would decide the issues on the negotiating table.  When the Doha Round had begun in 2001, common ground had been established.  It was critical that countries and groups of countries realized the many advantages to be gained from the negotiations and their conclusions.  The negotiation process itself had already had positive effects.  The Round should not be viewed as a battle between rich and poor countries, but as a collective search for balance between the interests of all parties involved.  The Round would not benefit from more delays and stakeholders should move towards concluding negotiations.

Discussion

KWAME SUNDARAM JOMO, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and moderator of the ensuing question-and-answer period, summarized many of the Committee’s concerns regarding the Doha Round.

Mr. LAMY, questioned about the point of trade reform, agreed that trade opening was not an end in itself, but economic science and history had shown that it did in fact create welfare.  Growth, hence welfare, was about efficiency, while trade occurred because producers and consumers intervened through market mechanisms.  Supply-side constraints must be addressed through adequate productive policies and trade opening was one among many conditions in creating welfare.

Regarding how welfare was distributed, he said trade was one factor affecting technology dissemination, hence the need for domestic policies to cope effectively with wealth distribution.  People saw what the World Trade Organization did through the prism of domestic policies and were sometimes tempted to dump on the organization their anxieties and fears that had nothing to do with trade expansion but were really a result of domestic policies.  The development dimension of the Doha Round was everywhere, from reducing farm trade-distorting subsidies and tariff peaks in agriculture to giving small economies flexibilities and shielding them from further tariff reductions.  While the World Trade Organization was moving forward on Aid for Trade, it was not a development agency, but worked on development through a limited trade-assistance capacity.

Regarding the varying results in terms of economic trade evaluations of the Doha Round, he said some economists had indeed made assumptions about economic trade totalling $900 billion while others had calculated it at $20 billion.  All were good but they had used different assumptions in their models.  If a model measured consumer welfare benefits it came as no surprise that figures would be high for the United States, European Union and Japan, but low for Burkina Faso and Benin.  There was indeed a need to have economists agree, but that only happened in heaven.

On how to address asymmetries, he said they were necessary for efficiency gains of trade to appear.  For example, European Union textile policy had been the same for 50 years and over that time, some members had performed well while others had not.  The difference lay in how they coped with the policy.  On the agricultural side, the success of developing countries often lay in domestic agricultural policies concerning such things as land ownership, productivity, the size of farms, the ability to distribute fertilizers and transport conditions.  The right policies were necessary to cope with a large part of such asymmetries.  That’s where Aid for Trade played a role.  As for the negative impact of cotton subsidies on some African farmers, subsidies were one factor but there were others that also influenced prices.  On low-cost imports that competed with local production, it could be seen as unfair competition but that could in fact change.

Mr. SUPACHAI, responding to questions about the linkages between trade and investment, reminded delegates that the two went hand in hand.  While the World Trade Organization did not link the two, UNCTAD did, complementing the other body’s efforts.  Regarding the non-agricultural market access negotiations, some developing countries did not succeed in opening markets, an issue that must be examined.

Turning to next April’s UNCTAD XII meeting, he expressed hope that the Doha Development Agenda would be completed before then.  UNCTAD XII would include discussions on multilateral issues relevant to the Agenda, but national policies and multilateral agreements would also be discussed.  The existence of possible agreement on export subsidies, Aid for Trade details and issues specific to least developed countries were new issues.  What UNCTAD had been calculating -- Mode 1, outsourcing, and Mode 4, mobility of national persons -- could contribute $200 billion, compared with non-agricultural market access -- which could contribute $60 billion.  The gain from services could be very substantial indeed, enhancing productivity in manufacturing, among other things.  Commodity prices and food prices could also be taken up at UNCTAD XII.  While trade had been positive over the last few years, that wouldn’t last and UNCTAD was working hard to emphasize that gains should be funnelled to other areas, such as risk-management, processing and diversification, and cooperation with other countries on pricing.

The Committee then began its consideration of macroeconomic policy questions.

Introduction of Reports

Mr. SUPACHAI introduced the Secretary-General’s report on international trade and development (document A/62/266), saying the profound changes in the international trading system over the last seven years must be harnessed now to avoid “future shock”.  That could be done by seizing every possible opportunity to enhance economic security, reduce poverty and stimulate job creation, as well as by fostering technological progress and human development, and ensuring greater global governance, coherence and solidarity that would complement actions at the national and international levels.

He said globalization was already democratized and rebalanced, thanks largely to the rise of the engine of trade and bolstered by the South, which now accounted for 36 per cent of world trade and 35 per cent of inward foreign direct investment flows.  Those changes justified granting the South a greater voice and participation in global economic governance.  At the same time, the new economic landscape was pocked with the formidable challenges of widespread poverty and infrastructure deficits, which marginalized many developing countries, especially the least developed and landlocked ones in addition to small and vulnerable developing economies.

A paradigm shift in development policy thinking, he said, should thrust productive capacities to the heart of national and international policies to promote economic growth and poverty reduction through capital accumulation, technological progress and structural changes.  South-South trade was making quantum leaps and creating stronger and broader economic cooperation among developing countries, but new models were needed.  UNCTAD would do all it could to see that become a catalytic force for growth and development, which should complement the market-driven take-off in South-South trade and investment.

He said that with more than a billion people expected to be integrated into the global labour market by 2010, it was important to seize opportunities to advance inclusive globalization for development and attain the Millennium Development Goals.  Other areas of concern were the South’s burgeoning demand for commodities and natural resources, and high energy prices.  The international community must commit to helping developing countries cope with market volatility, and energy strategies must be created at all levels.  In addition, the World Trade Organization and regional trade agreements should address trade barriers, such as the growing application of non-tariffs trade barriers.

Ongoing multilateral trade negotiations had reached “a difficult stage”, he said, pointing out that more trade was covered by regional trade agreements, free trade agreements and other preferential arrangements than was conducted on a most-favoured nation basis through the World Trade Organization.  That trend should not undermine the multilateral approach and all stakeholders, especially major trading countries, should show leadership in making the “down payments” and compromises needed for a timely and balanced conclusion of the Doha Round.

He called for five key deliverables:  enhanced and additional market access for developing-country exports; policy space and flexibility to foster productive capacity and food and energy security in developing countries; substantially raising the trading system’s fairness quotient by reducing and eliminating agricultural subsidies and levelling the playing field; a non-debt-creating, predictable, needs-based and demand-driven Aid for Trade Initiative; and a Doha Round outcome that ensured coherence between the multilateral trading system and North-South regional trade agreements.

Achieving the Millennium Goals, he said, depended first and foremost on developing global solidarity and partnership -- which should include increased efforts by donors to meet their development assistance targets -- helping developing countries step up investments in infrastructure, and enhancing the quantity and quality of development assistance.  As shown by UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Index 2007, countries had progressed and could continue to climb up the development ladder through a combination of effective infrastructure, policies that fostered human development, a supportive international enabling environment and global solidarity from development partners.

PETKO DRAGANOV (Bulgaria), President of the Trade and Development Board,  introduced that body’s reports (documents A/62/15, Parts I through IV), saying the Board’s October 2007 session had begun with a high-level segment that had addressed the theme “globalization and inclusive development”.  Despite the impressive recent performance of developing countries as a whole, many of them, particularly least developed and other low-income countries, had not been lifted by their economic recovery nor been able to translate growth into poverty reduction.

The segment had highlighted several factors that could promote economic and social inclusion and help them integrate more effectively into the world economy, he said.  For example, access to clean technology and the use and export of renewable energy could help mitigate the adverse impact of climate change on developing countries.  International labour migration could benefit both sending and receiving countries through remittances and the loosening of constraints on the work force. 

He said that during its debate on interdependence and global economic issues from a trade and development perspective, the Board had discussed regional cooperation for development, against the background of UNCTAD’s 2007 Trade and Development Report.  There had been a broad consensus on the desire for greater regional cooperation among developing countries to support national development strategies, which could lead to higher investment and faster transformation.  The pursuit of development goals by least developed countries took place in the context of an increasingly knowledge-intensive world economy.  Innovation was vital to long-term growth and development in both developed and developing countries.

To counter the risk of leaving developing countries marginalized there was a need to integrate science, technology and innovation into their national policies and poverty-reduction strategies, he said.  Development partners must support the poorest countries with well-directed financial and technical resources, including ODA, and expanded capacity-building programmes.  It was also important to create and maintain an appropriate domestic environment through good governance and internally integrated economies, so as to increase savings and investments that fuelled high growth.  The Board had also reviewed developments and issues in the post-Doha work programme of concern to developing countries. 

ROB VOS, Director of Development Policy and Analysis, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the report on unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries (document A/62/210), saying that representatives of Member States, Regional Commissions, United Nations bodies and other international organizations expressed the view that such measures contravened the principles of the United Nations Charter, various facets of international law and other aspects of international cooperation.  Several of those representatives made reference to paragraph five of the Doha Declaration of the Group of 77 Heads of State and Government at their June 2005 Summit, which called on the international community to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries.  OECD expressed the view that such measures should be used only as a last resort and their application should be consistent with international law.

Statement

MOHAMMAD SAID (Pakistan), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said the deadlock in the Doha Round undermined the capacity and endeavours of developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and compromised efforts to set up a universal rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system that contributed to economic growth and sustainable development.  The international trade regime had always been weighted against developing countries, but the Doha stalemate was bad news for both developed and developing countries.  The objectives of significant agricultural liberalization, reduction of high and discriminatory industrial tariffs and equitable liberalization of services, especially labour, were equally important for all countries.  But the onus for striking the so-called “grand bargain” should not be placed on developing countries.

It was important to identify clearly and achieve Doha’s development objectives, he stressed.  They should include liberalizing the agriculture sector, reducing or eliminating high tariffs, tariff escalations and non-tariff barriers in non-agricultural market access, liberalizing labour services and granting special and differential treatment to developing countries.  Conscious steps were needed to create closer links between international trade and achieving the Millennium Goals.

The United Nations and UNCTAD should help develop more specific indicators and benchmarks to monitor progress in that regard, he said.  It was essential to monitor the impact of tariff regimes, commodity prices and availability, special and differential treatment, non-tariff barriers, and the impact of Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), including the technology transfer required for development and industrialization.  Global intellectual property rights regimes must facilitate the transfer and dissemination of knowledge and technology, as they were essential for sustainable economic growth.  A more comprehensive review of the TRIPS regime was necessary as the Group of 77 was concerned over the slow pace in ratifying the TRIPs amendment adopted in December 2005.

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