At the second part of its forty-first session (858th meeting on 31 March 1995), the Trade and Development Board approved the substantive item of the provisional agenda for the ninth session of the Conference (item 8), together with the agreed annotations to that item.
At the first part of its forty-second session (867th meeting on 19 September 1995), the Board took note of the provisional agenda, as completed with the customary procedural and administrative items.
The provisional agenda, together with the agreed annotations to the substantive item, is contained in
section I of the present document.
Annotations on procedural and administrative items are contained in
section II.
OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
Against the background of an assessment of trends in the world economy, in particular those related to the processes of globalization and liberalization, the Conference will consider national and international policy approaches and measures for promoting growth and sustainable development.
Item 8(a) (i)
The Conference will make an assessment of the fundamental trends in the international economic system, notably the growing and deepening interdependence among countries and sectors of the economy, in the light of their consequences for the development process. The Conference will examine in particular the opportunities for growth and development offered by the processes of globalization and liberalization in interlinked areas of trade, technology, money and finance, investment, services, commodities and environment, as well as the risks and potentially negative consequences that might be involved in these processes. The Conference could also examine the new and emerging issues within its competence in the perspective of their implications for trade and development.
Item 8(a) (ii)
The Conference will consider relevant national and international policies and strategies which are needed to enable developing countries to take full advantage of the opportunities for growth and development offered by the new global context while minimizing the risks of new imbalances and instabilities, including in international financial markets, and the potential marginalization of the least developed countries and other weaker economies. In this context the Conference will take into consideration the relevant problems of interested economies in transition. The Conference would also consider appropriate international support measures for enabling the least developed countries to participate more effectively in the globalization and liberalization processes, while taking into account the outcome of the Mid-term Global Review on the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries in the 1990s. Similar measures could also be considered for low-income countries and other structurally weaker economies such as those in Africa, with the aim of improving economic conditions through raising income levels and export earnings.
In this connection, the objective should be to build consensus on the elements of development cooperation and appropriate development policy approaches and strategies, both at relevant national and international levels, required for the future. In that context, the Conference should also pay attention, inter alia, to issues related to the problems of unemployment, poverty alleviation and sustainable development; policies to expand and consolidate progress in access to markets; the role of government as well as the public and private sectors in the development process; resource flows and external debt. The Conference would also address new approaches to South-South economic cooperation, as well as the role and potential impact on development of regional economic groupings in the globalizing and liberalizing world economy.
Item 8(b)
The Conference should focus on the consideration of concrete policies, measures and actions, both at relevant national and international levels, needed to promote the integration of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, into the international trading system. The Conference would consider relevant national and international measures to facilitate the integration of interested economies in transition into the international trading system. In particular, the Conference should cover the following areas: the impact of the Uruguay Round Agreements on development; measures to assist developing countries to benefit fully from trading opportunities arising from the Round while making proposals for translating into concrete action the commitments made at the Ministerial Meeting in Marrakesh regarding the least developed countries and net food-importing countries; promoting complementarity between UNCTAD and WTO with a view to addressing trade-related development concerns of the developing countries; the evolution of the generalized system of preferences; measures for capacity-building in trade efficiency, including access to information technologies; the implications of information technologies for trade; trade and environment; the interrelationship between trade and competition policy; capacity building in developing countries in services and trading opportunities in this sector; reduction of the instability and risks faced by the commodity-export-dependent developing countries; promotion of commodity diversification; and efficient management of natural resources.
Item 8(c)
The Conference will focus on the identification of concrete policies, measures and actions, both at relevant national and international levels, needed to create and promote entrepreneurship and an enabling environment for the development of internationally competitive enterprises, taking into account the promotion of small and medium-size enterprises and their financing. Policy measures will be considered in an integrated manner covering areas such as encouragement of domestic and foreign investment; development of technological capabilities and transfer of technology; privatization and public-sector reform; interrelationship between competition and enterprise development.
Item 8(d)
The Conference will assess the work completed by UNCTAD since its eighth session, as well as the institutional reforms adopted at that session. The Conference will also consider the future role of UNCTAD, including its relationship with other international institutions to generate synergies among them. On the basis of UNCTAD's mandate and with a view to strengthening the United Nations system, the Conference should enable UNCTAD to become a more effective instrument for promoting development and the full integration of the developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, into the world economy and the international trading system. The Conference should take into consideration the need for the integration of the interested economies in transition into the world economy and the international trading system. Taking also into account the outcomes under items 8(a), (b) and (c), the Conference would decide on the work programme implications and on the structures and orientations of the intergovernmental machinery of UNCTAD.
The Conference will also consider, in accordance with the relevant decisions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, UNCTAD's contribution, within its competence, to the follow-up to the outcomes of major United Nations Conferences, including inter alia the World Summit for Social Development.
OF THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA
1. The rules of procedure of the Conference are contained in TD/63/Rev.2.
Item 1 Opening of the Conference
2. Rule 16 of the rules of procedure provides that:
"At the opening of each session of the Conference, the head of that delegation from which the President of the previous session was elected shall preside until the Conference has elected a President for the session."
Item 2 Election of the President
3. Rule 17 of the rules of procedure of the Conference provides, inter alia, that the Conference shall elect a President from among its members.
4. Following customary practice, the President of the Conference would be the head of delegation of the host country (South Africa).
Item 3 Establishment of sessional bodies
5. Rule 62 of the rules of procedure provides that:
"In addition to the Credentials Committee, the Conference shall establish main committees in accordance with the relevant recommendations of the Board and such other sessional bodies as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions."
6. At its twelfth executive session, on 29 March 1996, the Board recommended that the Conference establish a Committee of the Whole to consider and report on the substantive item referred to it by the Plenary. In line with rule 63 of the rules of procedure, the Committee of the Whole may set up such drafting groups as may be required to carry out its functions.
Item 4 Election of Vice-Presidents and the Rapporteur
7. Rule 17 of the rules of procedure provides that:
"The Conference shall elect a President, Vice-Presidents and a Rapporteur from among its members. The Vice-Presidents shall be elected after the election of the Chairmen of the main committees referred to in rule 65. In electing the officers, due account shall be taken of the need to ensure an equitable geographical distribution."
Bureau of the Conference
8. Rule 22 of the rules of procedure provides that:
"There shall be a Bureau of the Conference of 35 members, which shall comprise the President and Vice-Presidents of the Conference, the Chairmen of the main Committees and the Rapporteur of the Conference. The President of the Conference or, in his absence, a Vice-President designated by him, shall serve as Chairman of the Bureau of the Conference."
9. Taking into account the recommendation of the Board to establish a Committee of the Whole, the 35 members of the Bureau of the Conference at its ninth session would consist of the President, 32 Vice-Presidents, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, and the Rapporteur.
10. Under the present item, therefore, the Conference will be called upon to elect the Rapporteur, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, and thereafter the 32 Vice-Presidents.
11. To ensure an equitable geographical distribution, the Conference may wish to decide that the composition of the Bureau should follow the same distribution as that of the Bureau at its eighth session, i.e. 21 members from List A and C combined (7 from Africa; 7 from Asia; 7 from Latin America and the Caribbean); 9 from List B; 4 from List D; and China. In accordance with past practice, the regional coordinators should be fully associated with the work of the Bureau.
Item 5 Credentials of representatives to the Conference
(a) Appointment of the Credentials Committee
12. Rule 14 of the rules of procedure provides that:
"A Credentials Committee shall be appointed at the beginning of each session. It shall consist of nine members, who shall be appointed by the Conference upon the proposal of the President. The Committee shall elect its own officers. It shall examine the credentials of representatives and report to the Conference".
13. In keeping with past practice, the Conference may wish to decide that the Credentials Committee shall be composed of the same nine States as were members of the Credentials Committee of the General Assembly at its most recent (fiftieth) session, i.e. China, Luxembourg, Mali, Marshall Islands, Russian Federation, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America and Venezuela. (At the fiftieth session of the General Assembly, the Credentials Committee was chaired by Trinidad and Tobago.)
(b) Report of the Credentials Committee
14. In accordance with rule 14 of the rules of procedure, the Credentials Committee shall examine the credentials of representatives and report to the Conference. Rule 13 provides that the credentials of representatives and the names of alternate representatives and advisers shall be submitted to the Secretary-General of the Conference, if possible not less than one week before the date fixed for the opening of the session. The credentials shall be issued either by the Head of State or Government or by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Item 6 Adoption of the agenda
Agenda
15. As indicated in the introductory note to the present document, the provisional agenda as set forth in section I above has been approved by the Trade and Development Board.
Organization of work of the Conference
16. Suggestions regarding the organization of work of the Conference will be circulated in TD/365/Add.1.
Item 7 General debate
17. The general debate in plenary is expected to open on Tuesday, 30 April 1996 and to conclude on Friday, 3 May 1996. Statements will be heard each day, both in the morning and in the afternoon, with the possible addition of some evening sessions in accordance with the order in which the delegations have been inscribed on the list of speakers since it officially opened on 12 February 1996 (TD/INF.30).
18. In accordance with rule 39 of the rules of procedure and guidelines approved by the General Assembly, speakers will be requested to limit their interventions to a maximum of ten minutes. To this end, delegations might consider making available the full text of their statements and concentratingon salient features during interventions in the plenary.
Item 8 Promoting growth and sustainable development in a globalizing and liberalizing world economy
Meeting the challenge of maximizing the developmental impact of globalization and liberalization, while minimizing the risks of marginalization and instability. Towards this end, the Conference will deal with the following topics:
(a) Development policies and strategies in an increasingly interdependent world economy in the 1990s and beyond
(i) Assessment of the development problematique in the current context
(ii) Policies and strategies for the future
(b) Promoting international trade as an instrument for development in the post-Uruguay Round world
(c) Promoting enterprise development and competitiveness in developing countries and countries in transition
(d) Future work of UNCTAD in accordance with its mandate; institutional implications
19. The agreed annotations to this item are contained in section I of the present document.
21. As a basis for its work, the Committee had before it the report of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to the Conference (TD/366/Rev.1); the Least Developed Countries Report 1996, and Overview (TD/B/42(2)/11); under cover of note TD/370 - The Amman Final Documents (AS/MM/77(VIII)/1/Rev.1), the Caracas Declaration (LA/MM/77(VIII)/1), and the Addis Ababa Declaration on UNCTAD IX (AF/MM/77(VIII)/1); the position paper submitted by the European Union, under cover of note TD/369; and statements of position made by some delegations during its session.
22. The Committee of the Whole reported on the outcome of its work to the Board at the closing plenary meeting of its twelfth executive session on 29 March 1996. The Board took note of the pre-Conference text drawn up by the Committee and decided to transmit it to the Conference. Accordingly, the pre-Conference text will be before the Conference in TD/367.
Item 9 Other business
(a) Periodic review by the Conference of the lists of States containedin the annex to General Assembly resolution 1995 (XIX)
23. The membership of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and of the Trade and Development Board is contained in document TD/INF.31.
24. Paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 1995 (XIX), as amended, states that the lists of States contained in the annex to that resolution "shall be reviewed periodically by the Conference in the light of changes in the membership of the Conference and other factors". The lists were last reviewed by the Conference at the seventh session in 1987.
25. The Board's recommendations on the review of the Lists of States will be made available to the Conference in TD(IX)/CRP.1.
(b) Report of the Trade and Development Board to the Conference
26. Pursuant to paragraph 22 of General Assembly resolution 1995 (XIX), the Conference will have before it a document (TD/368) drawing attention to the reports of the Board submitted to the General Assembly since the eighth session of the Conference.
27. The Conference may wish to take note of the report in TD/368, which draws attention to the reports of the Trade and Development Board since the eight session of the Conference.
(c) Designation of intergovernmental bodies for the purposes of rule 80 of the Conference rules of procedure
28. The Conference will be invited to consider any applications from intergovernmental bodies for designation under rule 80 of the Conference rules of procedure and for the purposes of paragraphs 18 and 19 of General Assembly resolution 1995 (XIX).
29. A list of the 105 intergovernmental organizations at present in status with UNCTAD is contained in TD/B/IGO/LIST/2.
(d) Review of the calendar of meetings
30. In the light of decisions taken during its ninth session, the Conference may wish to review the draft calendar of meetings for the remainder of 1996.
(e) Financial implications of the actions of the Conference
31. Estimates of any financial implications of action proposed by the Conference will be submitted by the secretariat, if required, in pursuance of rule 32 of the rules of procedure.
Item 10 Adoption of the report of the Conference to the General Assembly
32. In accordance with past practice, the report of the Conference will be submitted to the General Assembly.