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(d) To promote and support policies, domestic and international, that make economic growth and 
environmental protection mutually supportive.

Activities

(a) International and regional cooperation and coordination

Promoting an international trading system that takes account of the needs of developing countries

2.10. Accordingly, the international community should:

(a) Halt and reverse protectionism in order to bring about further liberalization and expansion of 
world trade, to the benefit of all countries, in particular the developing countries;

(b) Provide for an equitable, secure, non-discriminatory and predictable international trading system;

(c) Facilitate, in a timely way, the integration of all countries into the world economy and the 
international trading system;

(d) Ensure that environment and trade policies are mutually supportive, with a view to achieving 
sustainable development;

(e) Strengthen the international trade policies system through an early, balanced, comprehensive and 
successful outcome of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations.

2.11. The international community should aim at finding ways and means of achieving a better 
functioning and enhanced transparency of commodity markets, greater diversification of the commodity 
sector in developing economies within a macroeconomic framework that takes into consideration a 
country's economic structure, resource endowments and market opportunities, and better management of 
natural resources that takes into account the necessities of sustainable development.

2.12. Therefore, all countries should implement previous commitments to halt and reverse protectionism 
and further expand market access, particularly in areas of interest to developing countries. This 
improvement of market access will be facilitated by appropriate structural adjustment in developed 
countries. Developing countries should continue the trade-policy reforms and structural adjustment 
they have undertaken. It is thus urgent to achieve an improvement in market access conditions for 
commodities, notably through the progressive removal of barriers that restrict imports, particularly 
from developing countries, of commodity products in primary and processed forms, as well as the 
substantial and progressive reduction of types of support that induce uncompetitive production, 
such as production and export subsidies.

(b) Management related activities

Developing domestic policies that maximize the benefits of trade liberalization for sustainable 
development

2.13. For developing countries to benefit from the liberalization of trading systems, they should 
implement the following policies, as appropriate:

(a) Create a domestic environment supportive of an optimal balance between production for the 
domestic and export markets and remove biases against exports and discourage inefficient 
import-substitution;

(b) Promote the policy framework and the infrastructure required to improve the efficiency of export 
and import trade as well as the functioning of domestic markets.

2.14. The following policies should be adopted by developing countries with respect to commodities 
consistent with market efficiency:

(a) Expand processing, distribution and improve marketing practices and the competitiveness of the 
commodity sector;

(b) Diversify in order to reduce dependence on commodity exports;

(c) Reflect efficient and sustainable use of factors of production in the formation of commodity prices, 
including the reflection of environmental, social and resources costs.

(c) Data and information

Encouraging data collection and research

2.15. GATT, UNCTAD and other relevant institutions should continue to collect appropriate trade data and 
information. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is requested to strengthen the Trade Control 
Measures Information System managed by UNCTAD.

Improving international cooperation in commodity trade and the diversification of the sector

2.16. With regard to commodity trade, Governments should, directly or through appropriate international 
organizations, where appropriate:

(a) Seek optimal functioning of commodity markets, inter alia, through improved market transparency 
involving exchanges of views and information on investment plans, prospects and markets for individual 
commodities. Substantive negotiations between producers and consumers should be pursued with a view to 
achieving viable and more efficient international agreements that take into account market trends, or 
arrangements, as well as study groups. In this regard, particular attention should be paid to the 
agreements on cocoa, coffee, sugar and tropical timber. The importance of international commodity 
agreements and arrangements is underlined. Occupational health and safety matters, technology transfer 
and services associated with the production, marketing and promotion of commodities, as well as 
environmental considerations, should be taken into account;

(b) Continue to apply compensation mechanisms for shortfalls in commodity export earnings of developing 
countries in order to encourage diversification efforts;

(c) Provide assistance to developing countries upon request in the design and implementation of commodity 
policies and the gathering and utilization of information on commodity markets;

(d) Support the efforts of developing countries to promote the policy framework and infrastructure 
required to improve the efficiency of export and import trade;

(e) Support the diversification initiatives of the developing countries at the national, regional and 
international levels.

Means of implementation

(a) Financing and cost evaluation

2.17. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing 
the activities in this programme area to be about $8.8 billion from the international community on 
grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and order of magnitude estimates only and have not 
been reviewed by governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, 
will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes governments decide upon for 
implementation.

(b) Capacity-building

2.18. The above-mentioned technical cooperation activities aim at strengthening national capabilities 
for design and implementation of commodity policy, use and management of national resources and the 
gathering and utilization of information on commodity markets.


B. Making trade and environment mutually supportive

Basis for action

2.19. Environment and trade policies should be mutually supportive. An open, multilateral trading 
system makes possible a more efficient allocation and use of resources and thereby contributes to an 
increase in production and incomes and to lessening demands on the environment. It thus provides 
additional resources needed for economic growth and development and improved environmental protection. 
A sound environment, on the other hand, provides the ecological and other resources needed to sustain 
growth and underpin a continuing expansion of trade. An open, multilateral trading system, supported 
by the adoption of sound environmental policies, would have a positive impact on the environment and 
contribute to sustainable development.

2.20. International cooperation in the environmental field is growing, and in a number of cases trade 
provisions in multilateral environment agreements have played a role in tackling global environmental 
challenges. Trade measures have thus been used in certain specific instances, where considered 
necessary, to enhance the effectiveness of environmental regulations for the protection of the 
environment. Such regulations should address the root causes of environmental degradation so as not 
to result in unjustified restrictions on trade. The challenge is to ensure that trade and environment 
policies are consistent and reinforce the process of sustainable development. However, account should 
be taken of the fact that environmental standards valid for developed countries may have unwarranted 
social and economic costs in developing countries.

Objectives

2.21. Governments should strive to meet the following objectives, through relevant multilateral forums, 
including GATT, UNCTAD and other international organizations:

(a) To make international trade and environment policies mutually supportive in favour of sustainable 
development;

(b) To clarify the role of GATT, UNCTAD and other international organizations in dealing with trade and 
environment-related issues, including, where relevant, conciliation procedure and dispute settlement;

(c) To encourage international productivity and competitiveness and encourage a constructive role on the 
part of industry in dealing with environment and development issues.

Activities

Developing an environment/trade and development agenda

2.22. Governments should encourage GATT, UNCTAD and other relevant international and regional economic 
institutions to examine, in accordance with their respective mandates and competences, the following 
propositions and principles:

(a) Elaborate adequate studies for the better understanding of the relationship between trade and 
environment for the promotion of sustainable development;

(b) Promote a dialogue between trade, development and environment communities;

(c) In those cases when trade measures related to environment are used, ensure transparency and 
compatibility with international obligations;

(d) Deal with the root causes of environment and development problems in a manner that avoids the 
adoption of environmental measures resulting in unjustified restrictions on trade;

(e) Seek to avoid the use of trade restrictions or distortions as a means to offset differences in 
cost arising from differences in environmental standards and regulations, since their application 
could lead to trade distortions and increase protectionist tendencies;

(f) Ensure that environment-related regulations or standards, including those related to health and 
safety standards, do not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a 
disguised restriction on trade;

(g) Ensure that special factors affecting environment and trade policies in the developing countries 
are borne in mind in the application of environmental standards, as well as in the use of any trade 
measures. It is worth noting that standards that are valid in the most advanced countries may be 
inappropriate and of unwarranted social cost for the developing countries;

(h) Encourage participation of developing countries in multilateral agreements through such 
mechanisms as special transitional rules;

(i) Avoid unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of the 
importing country. Environmental measures addressing transborder or global environmental problems 
should, as far as possible, be based on an international consensus. Domestic measures targeted to 
achieve certain environmental objectives may need trade measures to render them effective. Should 
trade policy measures be found necessary for the enforcement of environmental policies, certain 
principles and rules should apply. These could include, inter alia, the principle of non-discrimination; 
the principle that the trade measure chosen should be the least trade-restrictive necessary to achieve 
the objectives; an obligation to ensure transparency in the use of trade measures related to the 
environment and to provide adequate notification of national regulations; and the need to give 
consideration to the special conditions and developmental requirements of developing countries as they 
move towards internationally agreed environmental objectives;

(j) Develop more precision, where necessary, and clarify the relationship between GATT provisions and 
some of the multilateral measures adopted in the environment area;

(k) Ensure public input in the formation, negotiation and implementation of trade policies as a means 
of fostering increased transparency in the light of country-specific conditions;

(l) Ensure that environmental policies provide the appropriate legal and institutional framework to 
respond to new needs for the protection of the environment that may result from changes in production 
and trade specialization.

C. Providing adequate financial resources to developing countries

Basis for action