Mr. Chairman,

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I wish to thank the Secretary General for his Reports under this agenda item. I would especially like to thank the Secretary General of UNCTAD and Ambassador Ransford Smith, President of the Trade and Development Board for their comprehensive and analytical presentation of the various Reports.

We discuss international trade and development with just over a month to the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong. It is imperative, therefore, that the United Nations conveys in the strongest possible terms our expectations of the outcome of these negotiations. The commitments to place the needs and interests of developing countries at the heart of the WTO Work Programme and to transform international trade into an engine of development must be fulfilled. Failure is not an option. I wish to use this opportunity to reiterate where we expect positive movement.

Mr. Chairman,

During the course of the negotiations preceding last month's High-level Plenary Meeting, the Group of 77 and China repeatedly highlighted primary areas in which real commitments had to be undertaken and fully implemented. We had advanced some specific areas in which this would be required in order that our Heads of State and Government could give the political directive to the WTO Ministerial Meeting. We are extremely disappointed that this did not happen. Perhaps the situation can be redeemed in the coming weeks. To do this requires that we collectively agree to the following:

1. Achieving the fullest realization of the development mandate

As we have stated on numerous occasions, there is an urgent need to fully implement the development mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and the WTO General Council decision of 1 August 2004. In keeping with this objective, special and remedial actions have to be taken in several areas. One such area concerns the substantial reduction of trade-distorting domestic support and elimination of export subsidies by developed countries. Integrally related and of equal importance is the need to ensure a strong special and differential treatment component in the final outcome of negotiations on agriculture, NAMA, services and outstanding implementation issues, on which there have been little progress.

The issue of market access for goods and services of export interest to developing countries to the markets of developed countries must also be forcefully addressed. So too must the issue of protectionist measures by developed countries which continue to undermine the comparative advantage of developing countries and unfairly restrict access of our products to markets in the North. As part of efforts towards realizing this objective, developing countries should play an increasing role in the development of safety, environmental and health standards which are sometimes developed in this regard. Improving market access and terms of trade for developing countries should, as the Secretary General correctly identifies in paragraph 8 of A/60/225, be a 'shared vision of development.'

The creation of balanced rules and well-targeted, sustainably financed technical assistance and capacity-building programmes for developing countries should be a priority. They are imperative to realizing the development dimension highlighted in the Doha Work Programme.

2. The need for trade and development to benefit countries at all stages of development

It is imperative that countries at all stages of development benefit from international trade. The Secretary-General's Report provides glowing statistics of the increasing role of trade as a contribution to economic growth and development. Specific attention is drawn to the fact, in paragraph 3, that developing countries' exports grew faster than total world exports over the past year. However, very sobering details are also provided on the sharp contrasts among developing countries in their efforts to integrate in a meaningful and beneficial manner into the multilateral trading system. This situation must be addressed.

Accordingly, we wish to reiterate the need to address the trade-related issues identified for the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system, as mandated in paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration, and as contained in the WTO General Council decision of 1 August 2004 on the Doha Work Programme.

In the same manner, the special problems and needs of small island developing states, least developed countries and landlocked developing countries should be adequately addressed. We therefore call for the full and effective implementation of the Mauritius Strategy, the Brussels Programme of Action as well as the Almaty Programme of Action.

3. Creating an equitable international economic system

The disadvantaged status of developing countries due to the lack of equitable rules in international trade, speaks to the need to create a more equitable economic system through which developing countries can achieve their development objectives. To this end, we see merit in the continued call for greater consistency and coherence in the multilateral trading system and the international financial system, in order to substantially stimulate development worldwide, particularly for developing countries. As part of this consideration, there is the need to address adequately the vulnerability faced by each country to external shocks.

TRIPS

Mr. Chairman,

In addition to the issues I have already outlined, I wish to highlight another area of particular interest to the developing world. It concerns rule-making in the intellectual property regime. We must work expeditiously to make it more development-oriented and to facilitate the transfer of technology and knowledge to developing countries. Similarly, we have to work towards a legally binding international instrument on the preservation, protection and promotion of traditional knowledge and genetic resources, in order that developing countries can benefit from the use of their own resources.

We are deeply concerned the deadlines for negotiations on the development related-mandate concerning the TRIPS Agreement in the Doha Ministerial Declaration have not been respected. We hope that this trend will be reversed as a matter of urgency.

The UNCTAD

Mr. Chairman

The UNCTAD plays an important role in supporting the efforts of developing countries to maximize the benefits of international trade, through their assessment and monitoring of the international trading system from a development perspective. It is for this reason that we continue to reiterate the importance of enhancing substantially financial support to the UNCTAD.

We stress our interest in preserving the role of UNCTAD in providing effective and demand-driven assistance to developing countries and will resist any effort to undermine or shift its development perspective.

We look forward to the twelfth session of the UNCTAD and welcome the generous offer of the Government of Ghana to host the session in 2008.

Unilateral Coercive Measures

Mr. Chairman,

I turn now to the Secretary-General's Report contained in document A/60/226 on Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries. The use of economic power to pressure developing countries continues. It is disappointing that as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations we are still faced with this phenomenon. This is not in keeping with the Charter of the UN and international law.

The use of such economic measures contributes to impoverishment and undermines development efforts, including efforts to achieve the MDGs, in order to satisfy the political interests of stronger powers. The focus on UN reform in the area of human rights and on implementing the internationally agreed development goals should spur the international community to categorically reject this practice. This year presented the perfect opportunity for us to do so unanimously. It was not accomplished. Let us take the necessary corrective actions as a matter of urgency.

Thank you.