International trade and development A/RES/75/203 1. Takes note of the report of the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2 and the note by the Secretary-General; 3 2. Reaffirms that international trade is an engine for inclusive growth and poverty eradication and that it contributes to the promotion of sustainable development, structural transformation and industrialization, particularly in developing countries; 3. Reiterates that States will not be able to achieve the ambitious Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 4 without a revitalized and enhanced global partnership and comparably ambitious means of implementation, and that a revitalized global partnership will facilitate an intensive global engagement in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, bringing together Governments, civil society, the private sector, the United Nations system and other actors and mobilizing all available resources; 4. Reaffirms the commitments made through the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development 5 in, inter alia, international trade as an important action area for sustainable development; 5. Notes with concern that the World Trade Organization is increasingly affected by insufficient progress in multilateral trade negotiations and that it is imperative for the World Trade Organization to address issues that are at the heart of current problems in international trade, and recognizes in this regard the need to strengthen the World Trade Organization, with a view to ensuring the continued viability and effectiveness of its dispute settlement, negotiating and monitoring functions; 6. Recommits firmly to promoting a universal, rules-based, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, as well as meaningful trade liberalization; 7. Emphasizes the urgent need to combat protectionism in all its forms and to rectify any trade-distorting measures that are inconsistent with World Trade Organization rules, recognizing the right of countries, in particular developing countries, to fully utilize flexibilities consistent with their World Trade Organization commitments and obligations, and also emphasizes that the work of the World Trade Organization shall maintain development at its centre, with provisions for special and differential treatment remaining integral; 8. Also emphasizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the normal functioning of open markets, global supply chain connectivity and the flow of essential goods and services, and that these disruptions hinder the fight against poverty, hunger and inequality, ultimately undermining efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda, reaffirms that emergency measures must be targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary, that they must not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains, and that they must be consistent with World Trade Organization rules, and calls upon Member States to reaffirm the criti cal importance of connected global supply chains in ensuring the unimpeded flow of vital medical and food supplies and other essential goods and services across borders, by air, by land and by sea, and to encourage cooperation to facilitate cross-border travel of persons for essential purposes without undermining efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, highlights, in this regard, the critical role of digital technologies in sustaining business continuity and supply chains throughout the COVID -19 pandemic, and to strengthen cooperation among the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and other trade -related __________________ 2 3 4 5 20-17617 A/75/15 (Part I). A/75/225. Resolution 70/1. Resolution 69/313, annex. 3/4