SUNS4505 Wednesday 8 September 1999

Development: UN brings law and order to World Trade !

United Nations, Sept 6 (IPS/Thalif Deen) -- The United Nations pats itself on the back in a study on global commerce released here and notes that world trade would be in a state of disarray without UN ground rules.

"When ships sail freely across the seas and through international straits, they are protected by rules legitimised in UN conferences," says a 78-page study titled "The United Nations and Global Commerce."

Equally significant are the criteria for pharmaceutical quality laid down by the World Health Organisation and the protocols set by the Universal Postal Union to move mail across international borders, the study says.

Without these norms, it would truly be "a jungle out there" for anyone who cared to venture beyond national borders.

Authored by Professor Mark Zacher of the Institute of International Relations at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the study points out that there is "a serious misconception" that the UN system is not particularly central or salient to the functioning of the global economy.

"The key reason why UN bodies are important in formulating norms and rules for many commercial issues is simply that the support of all, of almost all, states is necessary for their legitimacy and effectiveness," Zacher notes.

If the UN system of organisations did not exist, it would be necessary to find or create other global organisations that would perform the same kinds of regulatory functions in the global economy, according to the report.

Currently, there are 14 UN Funds and Programmes and 12 UN specialised agencies devoted to economic and social development.

They include the World Metereological Organisation, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Intellectual Property Organisation and International Maritime Organisation.

Some of the UN action undertaken by these agencies include:

* Commercial airlines having the right to fly across borders.

* The carriage of goods by sea.

* The allotment of frequencies that keep airwaves from becoming hopelessly clogged.

* The collection and distribution of weather-related data to the UN's 185 member states.

If the UN did not set the rules, all these global activities could be reduced to a state of chaos, says the study.

"The costs of making these services universally available is minuscule compared to what private users would have to pay to create such arrangements on an ad hoc basis," it adds. "In relation to the amount of income and improved living standards that are generated by cross-border trade and investment, the costs are even more marginal."

Published by the UN's Department of Public Information, the study also argues that international businesses need to support the many UN institutions that facilitate their global activities.

They also need to defend these multilateral institutions from attacks that undercut their ability to contribute to the global order.

A crucial but little known area of standardisation is agreement on the definition of economic terminology. The UN Statistical Commission has been described as the world's most important organisation that helps develop these definitions and measurements used in national economies and international commerce.

"Most UN bodies are active as gatherers and analysers of information, and in some cases, they are viewed as the most important and reliable source of global data," the study says.

A set of recommendations by the World Intellectual Property Organisation to bring order to the high-stakes realm of Internet domain names has recently been presented to the Internet community.

The guidelines are aimed at eliminating the practice of "cybersquatting" in the growing area of electronic commerce.

Last year UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said only universal organisations like the United Nations "have the scope and legitimacy to generate principles, norms and rules that are essential if globalisation is to benefit everyone."

Addressing representatives of the travel industry last year, former US Ambassador Bill Richardson said the UN system helps serve a fundamental role in the foundation of global commerce and business - sizeably afffecting American companies.

Richarson cites the work of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN Commission on International Trade, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) as UN entities "that help secure free trade, prosperity and economic growth for Americans."

The US envoy says that ICAO sets important safety standards for international air travel, and considering that 40 percent of such travel is done by Americans, "this is one UN organisation that disproportionately affects Americans, and in particular the travel and tourism industry."

WIPO also safeguards billions of dollars worth of US exports in computer software, videos and industrial inventions from pirating and copyright infringement.