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