Vatican calls for new culture of fairer trade
relations
The Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nayions in Geneva, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic.- RV |
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican representative to the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Tuesday called for a
“new culture of fair multilateral relations”, based on cooperation and
international solidarity.
The message was contained in a statement by the Holy
See’s permanent observer to the UN in Geneva, Archbishop Ivan
Jurkovič, who highlighted the important role of regional trade agreements in
promoting higher standards of labour, environmental protection and
transparency.
The archbishop warned of the risks of unfair trade relations
which lead to poverty, increased trafficking and slavery, or the exclusion of
the poor and vulnerable from participation in the economic life of their
nations.
Please find below the full statement by Archbishop Ivan
Jurkovič, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other
International Organizations in Geneva, to the UNCTAD Trade and Development
Board.
High-level dialogue: Is the world integrating or
disintegrating?
Mr. President,
The Delegation of the Holy See welcomes the
opportunity of this High-level dialogue and the
note prepared by the UNCTAD Secretariat which focuses on
“the possibility of a new normal in
global trade relations, provides an overview of regional
trade agreements (RTAs) in developing
countries and addresses the role of regionalism in economic
development”.
The increasing economic inter-dependency among nations
captured by the ‘globalization’
rubric has been driven by a combination of technology,
policy, business behaviour, and public
attitudes. While all of these factors help to explain
economic growth generally, they have
contributed especially to global integration through trade,
finance and migration. The present
degree of global and regional challenges requires strong
cooperation and solidarity among States,
regions and international organisations, as no actor alone
can positively cope with issues such as
economic crisis, inequalities, future of work, climate
change, social exclusion and migration.
Regional integration has long been a tool in trade
promotion; increased trade flows and
evolving commercial links within Regional Trade Agreements
(RTAs) have been forged between
regions in the last two decades. In developing countries,
trade agreements help determine
national trade policy and potentially amplify the impact of
trade on development. RTAs have the
potential to promote higher standards in terms of labour,
environment, transparency and other
progressive reforms and non-economic policy objectives. RTAs
have become the instrument of
choice to increase trade.
Since 1995, 445 regional trade agreements covering goods
and/or services have been
reported to the World Trade Organization [1] and to date
“all WTO members […] have an RTA in
force”[2]. In the last decade, a new approach to RTAs has
seen their evolution into mega-regionals
and multiparty agreements. Furthermore, a growing number of
bilateral, regional and
interregional trade agreements incorporate provisions that
address social and developmental
concerns, such as labour policy considerations, sustainable
development and environmental
protection. All of these considerations must be based on the
dignity of the human person.
Following this premise both individual actors and
multilateral institutions can work together with
the goal of reaching the common good.
Mr. President,
The Nairobi Maafikiano highlights the importance of regional
integration in promoting
inclusive growth and sustainable development through, inter
alia, strengthening regional
economic cooperation among developing and developed
countries. Regional integration can be an
important catalyst to reducing trade barriers, implementing
policy reforms, decreasing trade costs
and increasing developing country participation in regional
and global value chains”. Nonetheless,
it should not be forgotten that modern business and free
trade, “even if they have reduced
poverty for a great number of people, often have led to a
widespread social exclusion.”[3]
Trade is unbalanced and unjust when it complements the
landscape of social exclusion and
inequality – when it transgresses anyone’s dignity anywhere
in the world; when it neglects the
common good of the whole of humanity; when it worsens the
distribution of income; when it fails
to create sustainable employment; when, worse, it takes
advantage of human trafficking and
modern slavery; and when in effect it bars the poor, the
weak, and the vulnerable from
participating in economic life. Such a trading system cannot
be justified when it protects or even
enhances the ability of large corporations to cut corners,
avoid paying taxes and discard workers
rather than supporting the ability of the poor and
marginalized to earn a decent living and live in
dignity. It cannot be defended when it runs roughshod over
basic human rights, refusing to hear
the cries of the poor who toil long hours for scandalously
low pay in unsafe working conditions. It
cannot be defended when it treats the natural environment as
yet another resource to be
plundered, rather than a precious gift to be stewarded
prudently and wisely, including with self-
restraint.
Regional Trade Agreements can help developing countries to
gradually adjust to the
increased degree of free trade competition. However, we must
recall, as Pope Paul VI affirmed,
that “free trade can be called just only when it conforms to
the demands of social justice.”[4] In
this sense, we have to identify the inequalities of the
economic system and start fixing them. RTAs
should be seen and used as powerful tools of solidarity and
subsidiarity, but not as a substitute of
the wider multilateral framework. Member States can enhance
the facilitating role that
cooperation within and among RTAs can have in areas where
policy coordination and coherence is
most needed to increase synergies between trade and the
Sustainable Development Goals, such
as “reducing trade policy uncertainty; avoiding the extremes
of trade protectionism at regional
and multilateral levels; promoting the structural
transformation of low-income and/or commodity-
dependent developing countries; devising regulatory measures
and standards, for example in the
areas of health, the environment and competition policy,
that enhance and do not undermine the
trade flows of developing countries; and formulating policy
measures to achieve inclusive trade,
for example for small and medium-sized enterprises, women
and youth”[5].
RTAs and multilateralism must be centred on the integral
development of all human beings.
Economic policies must respect the dignity of every person
and negotiations must promote the
common good. If not, the roots of the last, devastating
crisis will not be cut. If the current
problems are not addressed, the economic situation will
ultimately worsen the global political
landscape, fuelling fears and tensions worldwide.
In conclusion, Mr. President,
UNCTAD can play a fundamental role in shaping a new spirit
in global trade relations.
What the world needs now, more than ever, is a new culture
of fair multilateral relations based on
cooperation and international solidarity. This should be the
permanent role of UNCTAD, to be an
opportunity and a place for a renewed and effective dialogue
on development. Multilateralism, if
promoting a human-centred approach to the economy, and RTAs,
if aimed at improving the
common good, can promote a just trade and will strongly help
the human family build a better
world and fairer societies.
Thank you, Mr. President.
[1] World Trade Organization, “Regional trade agreements –
Facts and figures”. Available
at
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/region_e/region_e.htm
[2] Ibidem
[3] Pope Francis, Message to the World Economic Forum,
Annual Meeting at Davos-Klosters, 17 Jan 2014.
[4] Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 1967, § 59.
[5] UNCTAD TD/B/64/10
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét