In trade, the challenge remains to make the multilateral system more development friendly.

Indeed, the entire world is the loser if the multilateral trade system is weakened.

The case of cotton in Benin illustrated the inequity of the multilateral trade system.

The international community should build a multilateral trade system that is fair, non discriminatory and rule based.

The institutional capacity of WTO to effectively manage multilateral trade negotiations will have implications for the future prospects and direction of the multilateral trading system.

(e) The positive consideration of trade related issues pertaining to the commodity sector in the multilateral trading system

The treaty was created to extend the multilateral trading system to service sector, in the same way the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provides such a system for merchandise trade.

This divide and conquer strategy undermines the multilateral trade system, which is based on the principle of non discrimination.

We also stress the importance of establishing an international multilateral trade system characterized by fairness and equality for all.

Most important, Europe was able to achieve it only by investing heavily in a multilateral trade system through the GATT and then the World Trade Organization.

Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations

Support is much needed by developing countries to overcome barriers to trade, to meet the requirements of the multilateral trade system and to participate in international standards setting.

See OECD, The relationship between regional trade agreements and the multilateral trading system, TD TC WP(2002)19 FINAL, and World Trade Organization, Annual Report 1997, vol. 1, Special Topic Trade and Competition Policy.

Future trade negotiations should make the multilateral trading system more equitable through recognition of the particular disadvantages of small island developing States.

Special and differential treatment is essential for an equitable multilateral trading system in addressing special development, financial and trade needs of developing countries.

Developments in the multilateral trading system

Make efforts to fully integrate African countries in the international trading system, including through targeted capacity building programmes on bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations

Make efforts to fully integrate African countries into the international trading system, including through targeted capacity building programmes on bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations

The unequal participation by the developing countries in the decision making processes within the multilateral trade system had to be made more balanced, as trade barriers, especially to tropical products, were eliminated.

It also welcomed the Summit decisions favouring universal multilateral trade and genuine free trade.

28. Emphasizes that the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization is a key element with regard to the integrity and credibility of the multilateral trading system and the full realization of the benefits anticipated from the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations

Both those committed to trade liberalization within a multilateral system and those committed to helping developing countries will look at America s new strategy with abhorrence.

A fair multilateral trading system and meaningful trade liberalization can benefit countries at all stages of development, serving as an important source of development financing.

South South and intra regional trade in particular would benefit from multilateral trade facilitation agreements.

And yet, while the EU owes much to the multilateral trade system, since 2006, it, too, has shifted to bilateralism, scoring its biggest successes with free trade agreements with Latin America and South Korea.

It was to be hoped that the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations would be brought to a successful conclusion, creating new opportunities for trade, reducing the trade barriers between countries, and directing the trading system towards the development goals.

The main objective of the World Trade Organization in its technical assistance for African countries is to enhance Africa's capacity to participate in the multilateral trading system.

Within the multilateral trading system, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has laid out a framework for such requirements, in particular in its agreements on technical barriers to trade (TBT) and sanitary and phyto sanitary measures (SPS).

Since 1999, UNEP has been working closely with the secretariats of multilateral environment agreements and the World Trade Organization to build synergies between the multilateral environmental and trade regimes.

Among the major multilateral institutions, the WTO maintains jurisdiction over trade.

As the current development round of trade talks moves into its final stages, it is becoming increasingly clear that the goal of promoting development will not be served, and that the multilateral trade system will be undermined.

Thanks to the role played by the G 20, it has been possible to combine trade liberalization with social justice in the context of the multilateral trading system.

There was no way to talk about sustainable development without making the multilateral trade system the key vehicle for mobilizing the development resources needed by the developing countries.

At the dawn of today s multilateral system in 1944, 44 countries gathered in the United States at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to design the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and a system for international trade.

The whole exclusion simply undermines the multilateral trading system.

The international multilateral system must be enhanced and strengthened.

Of course, multilateral trade negotiations are only one of three legs on which the World Trade Organization stands.

Mr. Savchuk (Ukraine) said that the Secretary General's report on trade and development reflected the substantial growth in international trade in recent years, although not all countries were benefiting to the same extent from the multilateral trading system.

Development therefore rightly lies at the heart of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations.

While the share of the least developed countries in world trade was still minimal, even more worrying was their future in the multilateral trading system, as their accession to the World Trade Organization remained a protracted and complex process.

The issue of the relationship between the trade provisions of these agreements and those of the multilateral trading system has been discussed at length by the World Trade Organization Committee on Trade and Environment. The Committee has not, however, been able to reach any conclusive results.

That is why I would like to associate my country's voice with the call for justice and equity in seeking sustainable solutions to problems arising from the multilateral trade system.

A universal, rules based, open, non discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system, as well as meaningful trade liberalization, can substantially stimulate development worldwide, benefiting countries at all stages of development.

23. Invites bilateral and multilateral financial and development institutions, in cooperation with interested Governments and their financial institutions, to expand and coordinate their efforts, with increased resources, to further support national efforts to benefit from trade opportunities and effectively integrate into the multilateral trading system

A new multilateral system based on sounder principles must be invented.