A/RES/53/174 Page 2 Taking note of the report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on world commodity trends and prospects,1 1. Notes the need of the developing countries, in particular the commodity-dependent developing countries, for stable and more predictable commodity prices in the face of instability and decline in real terms of the prices of many commodities; 2. Emphasizes the need for developing countries that are heavily dependent on primary commodities to continue to promote a domestic policy and an institutional environment that encourage diversification and liberalization of the trade and export sectors and enhance competitiveness; 3. Expresses the urgent need for supportive international policies to improve the functioning of commodity markets through efficient and transparent price formation mechanisms, including commodity exchanges, and through the use of commodity price risk management instruments; 4. Urges developed countries to continue to support the commodity diversification and liberalization efforts of developing countries, especially African countries, in a spirit of common purpose and efficiency, inter alia, by providing technical and financial assistance for the preparatory phase of their commodity diversification programmes; 5. Urges producers and consumers of individual commodities to intensify their efforts to reinforce mutual cooperation and assistance; 6. Reiterates the importance of maximizing the contribution of the commodity sector to economic growth and sustainable development, while continuing with diversification efforts, in developing countries, especially in commodity-dependent countries, and, in this respect, stresses that: (a) International support for the efforts of developing countries towards the industrial transformation of their commodities is required to increase their export revenues and to improve their competitiveness with a view to facilitating their integration into the global economy; (b) In the context of the process of trade liberalization, the use of trade-distorting policies and practices, including tariff peaks, tariff escalations and non-tariff barriers, should be minimized as they have negative effects on the ability of developing countries to diversify their exports and to undertake the required restructuring of their commodity sector and as they could also adversely impact liberalization measures undertaken by commodity-dependent developing countries; (c) In the light of the process of multilateral trade liberalization, which has led to the diminution of differentials accorded by preferred trade regimes, there is a need to take measures, as appropriate and consistent with international obligations, to address that diminution, in particular by strengthening technical assistance to and by addressing supply-side constraints faced by commodity-dependent developing countries, in order to improve the competitiveness of their commodity sector and to overcome difficulties encountered in their diversification programmes; 1 A/53/319, annex. /...