Challenge for Unctad

Opening the 180-nation 11th UN Conference on Trade and Development Summit in Sao Paulo (Brazil), on June 14, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the poor nations to keep mounting pressure on wealthy countries for access to their farm to markets and to make long and deep cuts in tariff barriers.
This, he stated, still continues to be one effective way of fighting against "discrimination" in global trade.
However, noting that although international trade is opening up to the poorer nations, they must fight on for market access, while also endeavouring to boost business among themselves.
Again, he pointed out that what is lacking is a development-friendly trade regime, which appeared to be in sight now.
This, of course, had reference to the ministers meeting on the summit sidelines where they had broken a nine-month deadlock in world trade talks by agreeing to put farm trade reform at the centre of negotiations.
However, as Annan rightly warned, time is fast running out for striking a deal to that end.
This is certainly understandable in view of the United States and EU becoming preoccupied with top priority internal affairs by end July - the US with presidential election and the EU putting in place administrative and other changes in the wake of expansion.
In case the issues vital to international trade do not make a positive headway until then, resumption of negotiations may take months, maybe, even longer.
In so far as the Sao Paulo Summit is concerned, it is aimed at creating what Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described as a "new economic and trade geography" favouring poorer people and poorer countries.
The watchword of Unctad has become "coherence," a reference to preparing poorer nations' legal systems, infrastructure and business regulations to attract investment and trade in a globalised world.
As for the urgency of remedial measures at this stage, it should leave little to doubt in view of the Brazilian president's reminder that poor nations' annual per capita income had barely risen from around $200 in the 40 years since Unctad was formed.
He recalled that rich nations have seen theirs triple from $11,400 to $32,400, on the other hand. It will also be noted that the United Nations estimates that poor nations could generate an extra $15.5 billion in trade if the rich nations cut by half tariff barriers they use to protect certain industries and crops.
It will also be worthwhile to note that the key players in world trade happen to be the United States and the European Union, on the one hand, and the G-20 group of developing nations, on the other, representing more than 70 percent of the world's farmers and 60 percent of its population.
Now the 11th four-yearly Unctad moot has brought together representatives of 180 nations, seeking to build a framework for fairer trade between poor nations and rich states.
In this perspective, the lead provided by the poor farm produce exporting countries has helped a unified G-20 front, notwithstanding pressure from rich nations to cut barriers to EU and US exports of farm products and manufactured goods.
According to Unctad, over 80 percent of all world exports are produced by only 10 nations, with six of the world's 10 poorest nations remaining worse off than they were 20 years ago, as per Oxfam International's estimate.
Needless to point out, subsidies allow EU and US farmers to sell goods in world markets far less than they cost to produce, thereby also making it well nigh impossible for poor nations' products to compete.
This is then the toughest challenge Unctad has faced in its 40-year history. An idea of this may be had also from the Kofi Annan's reminder that they were still demanding the same access to rich nations' farm markets as they were when Unctad was formed in 1964.