Multi Year Expert Meeting

Multi-year expert meeting on commodities and development (fifth session), Geneva, Switzerland

Date: 20 – 21 March 2013

Location: Room XXVI of the Palais des Nations, Geneva.

The fifth session of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Commodities and Development will be held from 20 to 21 March 2013, in room XXVI of the Palais des Nations, Geneva. It will start at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 20 March.

The expert meeting will monitor developments and challenges in commodity markets, giving due attention to key commodity sectors and consider their development implications as well as emerging issues.

Discussions will include presentations by experts and representatives of relevant international organizations and commodity bodies. They will serve to put into focus – and inform UNCTAD member States about – the salient developments in key commodity sectors and markets from a development perspective.

The discussions will provide a context for appraising the opportunities and challenges arising from the current developments in the commodity markets and provide outlook on possible future developments and challenges facing commodity-dependent developing countries.

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Multi-year expert meeting on commodities and development (fourth session), Geneva, Switzerland

Date: 25 - 26 January 2012

Location: Room XXVI of the Palais des Nations, Geneva.

The fourth session of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Commodities and Development will be held from 25 to 26 January 2012, in room XXVI of the Palais des Nations, Geneva. It will commence at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 25 January.

The expert meeting will monitor developments and challenges in commodity markets, giving due attention to key commodity sectors and consider their development implications as well as emerging issues such as the green economy, climate change and technology.

The discussion on this topic, which will include presentations by experts and representatives of relevant international organizations and commodity bodies, will serve to put into focus – and inform UNCTAD member States about – the salient developments in key commodity sectors and markets from a development perspective.

Mr. Samuel K. Gayi
Head of the Special Unit on Commodities
Tel.: +41 22 917 2131
Fax.: +41 22 917 0509
E-mail: commodities@unctad.org

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Multi-year expert meeting on commodities and development (third session), Geneva, Switzerland

Date: 23–25 March 2011

Location: Room XXVI, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Trade and development implications of developments in commodity markets
Developments and challenges in commodity markets: current situation and outlook.

Review and identification of policy actions to mitigate the impact of highly volatile prices and incomes on commodity-dependent countries, and to facilitate value addition and greater participation in commodity value chains by commodityproducing countries.

Identification of innovative approaches to resolving commodity-related problems based on effective multi-stakeholder partnerships.

Input from experts:

Experts nominated by member States are encouraged to submit brief papers (approximately five pages) as contributions to the work of the meeting.

The papers should be submitted to the UNCTAD secretariat in advance of the meeting and will be made available at the meeting in the form and language in which they are received.

Papers, which should draw on the expert’s experience, may address one or more of the following issues:

What have been the drivers of price trends in recent years in commodity markets and what are the opportunities and challenges faced by commodity-dependent developing countries stemming from these trends?

What instruments can be used or what mechanisms can be set up to assist commoditydependent developing countries in mitigating exposure to price risk in commodity markets?

How can such mechanisms be quickly deployed, be effectively countercyclical, operate on the basis ex ante, automate eligibility requirements and restrict conditionality?

What are the policy measures through which commodity-dependent developing countries could enhance their participation in commodity value chains, including value addition in the medium-to-long term?

What are the relevant partnerships that can strengthen the contribution of commodities to development in commodity-dependent developing countries? How can such partnerships relate to national initiatives?

For more information please, please contact:

Mr. Samuel Gayi
Head, Special Unit on Commodities

Tel.: +41 22 917 2131
Fax.: +41 22 917 0509
E-mail: commodities@unctad.org

Terms of Reference for the Multi-Year Expert Meeting

The challenges regarding commodity trade continue to be a major issue in the twenty-first century. While the current commodity boom has improved the situation of primary commodities in world trade and revived the potential role of commodity trade in contributing to sustained economic growth and poverty reduction in the globalized economy, key realities of the commodity economy remain, including: price volatility in the sector and its impact on incomes in real terms; limited development gains from the production and trade of primary commodities for many developing countries, especially LDCs; and continued difficulties in diversification and in transparency and accountability at all levels and for all participants in the commodity sector. A long-term resurgence in the demand for – and value of – primary commodities in world trade would hold out the possibility that commodity-dependent developing countries may be able to generate sufficient gains from commodity trade to relieve financing constraints and enable them to launch their economies on a sustained growth path of rising income, diversification and poverty reduction. These prospects raise opportunities and challenges for trade and development, and the need for appropriate policy responses at the national, regional and international levels (Accra Accord, paras. 50 and 78).

In this context, paragraph 208 of the Accra Accord mandated the Trade and Development Board to establish a multi-year expert meeting on commodities. The objective of the meeting was to enable commodity-dependent developing countries, in accordance with the Accra Accord (see para. 10), to harness development gains from the current boom in commodity prices, deal with trade and development challenges related to commodity dependence, derive increased benefits from the global integration of markets and meet the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (paras. 77, 92 and 208).

Main issues:

The multi-year expert meeting will:

(a) Monitor developments and challenges in commodity markets, giving due attention to all commodity sectors (Accra Accord, para. 91) (all sessions);

First session

(b) Examine success stories and consider ways of integrating commodity policies into national, regional and international development and poverty reduction strategies, including efforts at all levels and for all participants in the commodity sector to improve transparency and accountability (Accra Accord, para. 93);

(c) Review and identify measures and support needed by commodity-dependent developing countries to utilize effectively the opportunities offered by current higher commodity prices to initiate a process of sustained economic growth, and by the commodity-importing developing countries, particularly LDCs, to cope with the detrimental

Second session

(d) Review and identify opportunities for the diversification of the energy matrix, including renewable energies, while being aware of countries’ needs to ensure a proper balance between food security and energy concerns (Accra Accord, paras. 91 and 98);

(e) Identify how trade-related policies and instruments can be used for resolving commodity problems (Accra Accord, para. 93);

(f) Identify investment and financial policies for accessing financial resources for commodity-based development, including with respect to official development assistance, Aid for Trade and other possibilities (Accra Accord, para. 93);

Third session

(g) Review and identify policy actions to mitigate the impact of highly volatile prices and incomes on commodity-dependent countries, and to facilitate value addition and greater participation in commodity value chains by commodity-producing countries (Accra Accord, para. 93);

(h) Identify innovative approaches to resolving commodity-related problems based on effective multi-stakeholder partnerships (Accra Accord, para. 93);

Fourth session

(i) Review and evaluate UNCTAD activities to assist commodity-dependent developing countries, including small commodity producers, in their efforts to address commodity challenges and promote development gains from commodity production and trade (Accra Accord, para. 93).

In carrying out this work under the multi-year expert meeting, appropriate coordination will be undertaken, within UNCTAD’s mandate, with other international, regional and other actors, including relevant international commodity bodies, already active in this area.

Outcomes:

The multi-year expert meeting on commodities and development will provide a forum for sharing country experiences with regard to benefiting from and assuring development gains from the boom in commodity prices, as well as for examining information to assist countries in dealing with long-standing challenges of commodity dependence, including overcoming difficulties in diversification, with specific attention to issues (a) to (h) above. It will generate lessons learned from those experiences and, as provided for in paragraph 207 of the Accra Accord, dentify “practical options and actionable outcomes” for addressing at the national, regional and international levels the opportunities and challenges of long-standing commodity trade and development issues, and assuring development gains from the boom in commodity prices. Such options and outcomes may be in the form of “inventories of best practices, checklists, indicative guidelines, sets of criteria or principles, and model frameworks” (para. 207). The meeting will also review and evaluate UNCTAD’s contribution to assisting developing countries in the area of commodities (issue (i) above).

Target experts:

The meeting will serve as a leading forum on the interface between commodities and development. Country experts should be nominated from ministries such as those dealing with trade, agriculture and natural resources (e.g. minerals and metals, oil and gas), as well as from the private sector, including representatives of producer associations or cooperatives.