Stabilisation of commodity prices and markets and related matters taken up at the UN Conference on Trade and Development

Resolution 273 (1964)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 23rd April 1964 (4th and 5th Sittings) (see Doc. 1733, report of the Economic Committee ). Text adopted by the Assembly on 23rd April 1964 (5th Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Convinced that the achievement of an adequate rate of economic growth and social improvement in less developed countries constitutes one of the gravest issues of today and will require co-operative international action in financial aid and technical assistance, as well as in trade ;

2. Welcoming the opportunity afforded by the UN Conference on Trade and Development of reviewing the many interrelated economic problems of the less developed countries and noting that its agenda gives considerable prominence to the question of stabilising commodity prices and expanding commodity markets ;

3. Believing that side by side with the most urgent measures designed to diversify progressively the economies of the less developed countries, which remains the principal long-term objective, a major effort should be made to stabilise and increase the earnings which these countries derive from commodity exports which still make up the bulk of their export trade,

4. Expresses the view that a substantial contribution towards this end could be obtained by the following means :

strengthening existing commodity agreements, inter alia by ensuring the widest possible participation of producer and consumer countries, including financial commitments, by extending the term of duration of the agreements and by providing for effective sanctions against defaulters ;

a wider range of international commodity agreements designed to stabilise prices and avoid, or at least reduce, day-to-day or year-to-year fluctuations ;

the abolition or drastic reduction of tariffs against raw materials and semi-manufactured products derived therefrom exported by the less developed countries ;

a study of the problem whether, and under what circumstances, arrangements should be made to reverse the trend of the terms of trade between less developed and industrial countries by negotiating commodity prices for a limited number of years, and in such a form as gradually to adapt production to long-term market trends, adequate safeguards being taken to avoid increasing uneconomic production ;

as a complement to the policies advocated above, studies should be pursued concerning an international system of compensatory financing to offset shortfalls in export earnings.