UNGA:2-C INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTE NO ON RESOLUTION ON

UNCLAS STATE 164428

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
USUN FOR MICHAEL SNOWDEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD AORC UN
SUBJECT: UNGA:2-C INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTE NO ON RESOLUTION ON
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT


1. This is an action request.


2. USUN is instructed to call for a vote and vote "no" on
the draft resolution "International Trade and Development."
In addition to our disagreement with many parts of the
resolution text, we were particularly disappointed with the
G77's refusal to engage in dialogue. USUN should make a
statement in plenary to this effect, drawing from the text in
para. 3 below.


3. Points to make in the U.S. Explanation of Vote:

The United States is a leading advocate of trade
liberalization. We believe strongly that a successful Doha
round will have a significant and positive impact on
development, poverty eradication, and the further integration
of developing countries into the multilateral trading system.
We had hoped that this year's UN resolution on Trade and
Development would encourage progress on the Doha Development
agenda.

Unfortunately, the resolution presented ignores that all
countries have a shared interest and responsibility in the
success of the Doha Round. Further, it does not offer
constructive or reasonable approaches to achieve our
established goals of mobilizing trade for economic
development and growth as key means of reaching our joint
commitment in the Millennium Declaration to reduce poverty.
We were especially disappointed that there was little
interest by representatives of the Group of 77 to engage
constructively in a dialogue to find common ground.

This does not bode well for our upcoming review of the
Monterrey Consensus on financing for development. Five years
ago, in a spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding, and
with a shared goal of reducing poverty and creating greater
economic opportunity for all, we concluded that a vibrant and
open global trading system could provide an essential source
of development financing. We must recapture the Monterrey
spirit if we are to engage in a substantive review that
produces a meaningful outcome that takes us toward our shared
poverty reduction goal.

While we support many of the elements contained in the
resolution, regrettably we find that it is unbalanced,
pre-judges the outcome of the Doha Round and makes the UN
General Assembly a vehicle for shadow negotiations on issues
that are under negotiation or review in the WTO and other
specialized agencies.

These circumstances compel us to vote no on this resolution.
At the same time, we would like to restate our conviction
that creating a global environment that facilitates trade is
the best and most sustainable way for developing countries to
grow. We would encourage the drafting of a more balanced and
realistic resolution in the future that can serve as a basis
for meaningful discussion and debate on this important issue.
RICE