Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Bangkok, 11 February 2000
N° 91

The Parliamentary Meeting, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Thai National Assembly, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which took place from 10 to 11 February at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, ended with the adoption of a Declaration which will be submitted to UNCTAD X, starting here tomorrow. In their Declaration, the 130 legislators representing 53 parliaments "call on parliaments and their members to become more closely involved in the international negotiating process on trade, finance and development issues".

"As members of parliaments, we speak for constituencies that cut across the divide of rich and poor, capital and labour, the public and private sector, and corporate and small-scale enterprise. We express concerns that encompass many single issues championed by various lobbies and pressure groups. Moreover, greater parliamentary involvement can only be beneficial to development. Indeed, democracy, respect for the rule of law and a government that is transparent and accountable to parliament are indispensable building blocks for good governance and substantial development".

In the Declaration, the participants set out their views as the peoples' elected representatives on the impact of globalisation, trade liberalisation and human development, the need to revise the international financial architecture and on issues of transparency. In its concluding paragraph, the declaration sets out specific recommendations for parliamentary follow-up action. In particular, the declaration calls upon the IPU and UNCTAD to work closely together to raise awareness of parliaments and their members of the implications for national legislation of specific trade and investment issues and to provide assistance in this regard. The declaration also requests the IPU to organize a global specialized conference on trade, finance and development to be convened in Geneva by the end of January 2001. finally the participants invite the IPU to establish immediately an ad hoc commission to look into issues relating to parliamentary follow-up to the third WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle and to make appropriate recommendations for parliamentary action.

In the declaration, the members of parliaments express their conviction that only through greater solidarity and international cooperation will all peoples benefit from the processes of globalization and trade liberalization. "Our participation in the formulation of global development policy at UNCTAD X takes on added importance at a time when the world community is assessing the potential and risks of globalization and trade liberalization for world economic growth and development", they said. Adding that for a greater number of developing countries, the current international trading system within the WTO framework has not yet yield its expected benefits. "Developing countries consider that the developed members have not yet fully implemented their WTO obligations, particularly in the areas of market access for agricultural and textile products. Various non-tariff barriers have been and continue to be created", underlines the Declaration. Parliamentarians also feel that the WTO has yet to create a level playing-field and for these reasons emphasise the need of developing countries for special and differential treatment and technical assistance, particularly in the area of professional training, to implement their WTO obligations.

The overriding preoccupation is to ensure that emerging multilateral systems enable different national models of political, economic and social organization to function within a universally accepted framework of norms and rules. "We are strongly convinced that no system of globalization is acceptable if it attempts to impose standardised practices irrespective of the cultural and social values that have shaped societies through the ages", stressed the members of parliaments gathered in Bangkok.

For the members of parliaments, mechanisms are required to ensure that the benefits of trade are widely shared, also among countries that are currently marginalized. While promoting free and fair trade, "we need to establish a level playing-field. To this end, arrangements for special and differential treatment for developing countries and countries with economies in transition have to be considered. Importance should also be attached to assistance in capacity-building. The multilateral trading system under the WTO offers the prospect further trade liberalization, thus expanding trading opportunities. To produce realistic results, the next round of multilateral trade negotiations must have a broad-based and balanced agenda, taking into account the interests and concerns of all participants. Agricultural negotiations should aim at achieving the long-term objective of fundamental reform, while taking account of food security concerns and the role of agriculture in environmental protection. Current obstacles to agricultural trade expansion should be reviewed as a matter of urgency", said the parliamentarians.

The legislators insist on the fact that "globalization and liberalization effectively lead to improvements in labour and environmental standards, the protection of children and respect for human rights". At the time of the adoption of the Declaration, the delegate from Morocco, supported by several other delegates from developing countries, underscored their understanding of this passage of the text as clarifying that these improvements in standards should not have the effect of penalizing developing countries and limiting their access to markets.

As far as new international financial architecture and resources for development are concerned, parliamentarians estimate that the need to establish a new international financial architecture has now become more urgent. They are encouraged by recent decisions to write off the external debt of poor developing countries - a measure that the IPU has been consistently advocating, adding that. "It is important to ensure now that these decisions are rapidly implemented so that the countries concerned see the benefits of debt write-offs as soon as possible".

The need for transparency and fair negotiation were also highlighted. "While significant advances have been made in recent years in improving transparency in some international organizations such as the World Bank, there is still a lack of transparency in the decision-making and functions of various multilateral bodies. Moreover, secrecy surrounds the operation of such bodies and access to relevant information is largely confined to governments". Parliamentarians urge UNCTAD and WTO to address the issue of transparency and fair negotiation, with full participation by all countries, "before the world slips back into protectionism".

The Inter-Parliamentary Union, founded in 1889 and based in Geneva, currently has 139 member parliaments affiliated and 5 regional parliamentary organizations associated. It also has a Liaison Office with the UN in New York.

Contact in Bangkok: Mrs Luisa Ballin, IPU Press Officer (UNCC/ESCAP), phone 288.2405, fax 288.1038, and Mr Jakrapob Penkair, phone 934.8512-5. In Geneva: (from 14.02.2000) phone (41.22) 919.41.16 or 919.41.27, fax (41.22) 919.41.60, e-mail lb@mail.ipu.org, or cd@mail.ipu.org.

The IPU has a Liaison Office with the UN in New York, tel.: (1.212) 557.58.80, fax (1.212) 557.39.54, e-mail: ny-office@mail.ipu.org

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