UNITED NATiONS
ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL COUNCIL
J
\,
PROVISIONAL
E/CN.14(IVl!SR.20 2 March 1962
~ri€inal. ENGLISH
DOCUMENTS
OFfICE :ecONOMIC COMJ;IISSION FOR AFRICAFourth session
Addis Ababa, February-March 1962
FILl UOpy
NO TO BE Tl\KEN
our
ECONOMIC COMillISSION FOR A.i7RICA
PROVISIONAL Sm~~ARY RECORD OF THE ~iENTIETB MEETING held at Africa Hall, Addis Ababa,
on Thursday, 1 March 1962, at 9.20 a.m.
Chairman, Secretary.
CONTENTS'
illr. D.O. BABA (1,lali) Hr. l>lATHU
Bconomic and social development (continued) Trade and commodity problems
Reprosentatives wishing to have corrections made in their speeches as summarized in this ~ecord are invited to indicate them in the text and send them within 48 hours of receipt of the record to Mr. Godet, Room
59,
Africa Hall.62-471
E!CN.14(IV)!SR.20
ECONOMIC AND SOCL~DEVELOPMENT (Agenda item 6) (continued)
Draft resolution on the establishment of an African Development Bank, (r/CN .14!L.,98!REY.l)
The CHAI~AN invited comments on the draft resolution sUbmitted by the ~elegationsof ~iberia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Tanganyika,
Dahomey and Tunisia (EtCN.14!L.98!REV.l).
Mr. ANGUILE (Oabon) gave as his understanning that the.
oommittee to be set up under the draft resolution woul~ in addition to the tasks specified,'also prepare a draft convention, to be' open for signature by the countries participating in the Bank.
Mr. IBRAHn~ (Nigeria) confirmed that that was his understand- ing too.
The draft resolution was adopted unanimously.
Mr. MENSAH (Ghana) said that the drafting group appointed to prepare the revised draft resolution had also discussed the question of the composition of the committee to be appointed, and that he had been asked to nominate on its behalf the following nine countries to serve on it: Liberia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanganyika, Sudan, Tunisia, Cameroun, Guinea and !!ali.
Mr. 1L~IS (United Arab Republic) asked for information on the method followed in selecting those nine·countries. He suggested that
the decision on the composition of the committee be left to the Executive Secretary or the selection made from among the countries of the expert group appointed to carry out the ·prelimina~ystudy of the question.
Mr. AHMED (Sudan) seconded the nominations m~de by Ghana.
Since the membership of the commi tteo rras restricted to nine, it 1'1aS obvious that all the cou~tries wishing to serve on it could not be accommOdated. Furthermore, its 11ork, once completed, would be coming before the meeting of l<frican Finance Ministers, at which time every Member would have the chance to participate.
E/CN.14(IV)!SR.20 Page 2
Mr. M~,SAH (Ghana), answering the United Arab Republic represent- ative, explained that an attempiiha d been made t~ find a composition
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for the oommittee that would be accept~blecto as broad a cross-section as possible of the CommissionIs membership •. Seoondly, h e thought it hardly appropriate to place on the ExecutiVe Secretary the invidious
,-,.:- ~
task of selection. Lastly, the original group of experts had come from five countries only and its members had served in a personal capacity.
It was hardly possible,' there:.'ore, to USe the group as a basis for selecting a committee to represent the Commission as a ",hole.
Mr. ANIS (United Arab Republic) said that, since neither of his suggestions appeared to be acceptable, he would propose that the oo!D.!ll:Lttee be composed: of; ten membs ce and, t/:la,tc the United Arab Rapub Lac
be appointed to ae rve on i t . ..·c
The CHAIPJiiilipoint€cl out that the since the draft resolution providing for a had already been adopted.
pro polCl/!-I)'fa,si naQ;llJ.is s.i bLe
.- ..".,,-,
committee of nine members
Mr. ABDELJALIL (J;Jorocco) supportetithe United Arab RepUblic proposal, pointing out.that tho ~uestion of the composition of the
committee had been .left aside, prior to ,the vote on:the draft resolution.
Be might add that his delegation had had no Preyious opportunity of making any comments or proposals on the matter.
Mr. N~VO (Sie~ra Leone) stated that his country, too, as a new Member of the Commission, would be interested in serving on the commf, ttee. Such service offered new Members an opportunj.ty to gain',
experie~oe, and that benefit ought to be shared equitably among the membership in general. He was happy to see tlillt ~anganyika, another new ~emoor, had been includod but, if any of the olQer members nominated would care to cnnsider standing dOwn,' he would li\:e Sierra Leone also to be given oo·ns'lderatJ.on.
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~~r. FA.B.AH (Somalia) endors ed the remarks of the preceding speaker 'lind made an':ev'e'n stronger plea that, in 'setting up committees, all II\embers should be called upon to serve in turn. Committee nork should 'not be 'the moncpoly of a small group of States.
The CHAIP~suggested that the questicn of the compcsition of the committee be referred to the heads of delegations.
A discussion on procedure followed·
The C.:!i:::mIAN put to the vote GhanaIs proposal on the compo.si,tion of the committee.
The propose,l was adopted by 15 voteS to
2'
with '7 abstentions.~Ir. NAVO (Sierra Leone) oXPlained that he hadobstained from votill.g be caus e
0:: q:.s
oor:Jic~ion tha ; f.l:::,thoc' ,1O;;0~i.a~ion on tlle matt'er might have avoided the, neyessi ty for a vote and ,might have allowed one' of the countries nominated to withdraw in favou= of a neW Member.Joint draft resoluti~.n on housing problems in Africa (E!CN.14!L.115) The CHAIRMAN invited comments on the joint ~aft resQl~tion
.£.A,:~, _
submitted by th~~elegations of Dahomey, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Libya, Madagascar, nali, Ilbroc:oo, Senegal, Togo, 'I'uni aa a and the United .Arab Republic (E/CN.14!L.llS).
Mr. ~~IGH (Tunisia) remarked that informal discussions among delegations had served to underline the urgency of the need for measures to improve the housing situation in Africa., and the coe-spcnao r-s had attempted, in the draft resolution under consideration, to ghe concret.e form to the,suggestions for action that had emerged during the talks.
the context of community development;. but, despite the good work done there, it must be recognized that there' was a justification for applyr ing other methods as well, namely that modernization of housing was
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 4
a prerequisite for the change in attitude demanded by economic and social deVelopment policies. l~ter developing that theme in all its aspects, he went on to suggest the consequent need for a bold housing policy, as being bound to contribute to the industrial sector, and for integrating housing measures into general plans for econ08ic development.
'ro illustra.te the complex nature of the problems involved, he gave an account of what was being done in his own country to meet the existing great demand for low-cost housing and, in conclusion, outlined the purposes underlying the ~perative provisions of the,draft resolution.
Mr. KOULISCHER (International Labour Organization) ~ew th~,
Commission Is attention to the various activities of 110 in the sphero of housing and suggested that its co-operation in the work of the pro- posed' conference of African experts would be appropriate. The ExecutiVe' Secretary might perhaps be asked to take the neoessary steps to that end.
"The EXECUT1VE'SECRETARY assured the representatives of all
tho epecialized agencies that he invariably took the necessary steps to ensure co~opsrationwith them on matters of mutual conCern. The Commission's terms of reference made expr~88 provision for such ,cc- operation and there was accordingly no need to raise the matter in particular instances.
Mr. MENSAH (Ghana) said i t had been brought to his attention that the wording of t~e first operative paragraph of the draft re- solution would have the effect of exclUding outside experts from taking part in'the proposed conference. Since, he was sure, that had not besn the intention of the co-sponsors, he would propose the deletion of the werds "from the African States", which, if accepted, would leave the Executive Secretary free to consult as many African experts as were available, together with outside experts.
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 5
The amendment was approved.
The draft resolution (E/CN.14/L.115), as amended. was adopted
~·aanimolls1y•
Joint draft resolution on USe of food surpluses (E/CN.14/L.117)
The CHAIro.UUj invited comments on the draft resolution submitted by the delegations of Chad, Dahomey, Ghana, I';ali, !iorocco, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia and the United ,lrab RepUblic (E/CN.14/L.117).
Mr. SBlar (Morocco), introducing the·draft resolution on behalf of its sponsors, recalled that a number of delegations, including his own, had already drawn attention in earlier statements to the alarming extent of malnutri~ion in Africa and its harmful effects on productivity and economic growth in general. The matter had already come in for much attention ~nthi~ the United Nations and FAO. He went ~n to outline the various steps that had led to the setting on foot of the ~orld Food Programme, the general aim of which was to use food surpluses to advance economic and social development. After enumerating the specific object- ives, he gave some information on the envisaged scope of the Programme for the next three years •
. While in no way disparaging the benefits to be.derived from
bilateral aid in food surpluses, he was convinced that the unconditional, multilateral assistance envisaged under the Programme would ::substantially help governments in their efforts to mobilize and utiliZe their h~an
resources to greater advantage. Moreover, the full responsibility for the execution of projects under the Programme would rest with the bene- ficiary countries, helped by the local or regional representatives of the various speci~lizedagencies concerned. ECA would undoubtedly play an effsctive role in assisting African countries to dra~1 up projects for help under the Programme. On all those grounds, he thought there was scarcely any need for him to commend the draft resolution to the Commission.
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 6
lir. ABERCROMBIE (Food and P~riculture Organization) said he merely wished to add that the World Food Progra~"e was still in the experimental stage ~nd to emphasize that it was not intended to replace the much larger bil~taral programDes of surplus disposal and utilization
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already in'operation.' An initial experimontal programme to the value ,of approximately $ 100 million was envisaged for the next three years.
The United States Govern~ent had indicated its willingness to offer
$ 40 million in commodities. The various bilateral programmes, o~ the other hand, were now running at a total of some $ 2,000 million a year.
In conclusion, he explained the background to the part of the Programme that was singled out for mention in the draft resolution.
The draft resolution (E/cN.l4fL.llI) was adopted unanimously.
Joint draft resolution on dissemination of knowledge in Africa (¥ICN.l4lL.llQ) The CHAI~iAN invited comments on the draft resolution submitted by the delegations of Cameroun, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone (E/CN.l4/
L.11Q) •
Mr. FOALEM (Cameroun) introduced the draft resolution on behalf of the sponsors, He outlined the provisions set out in the operative
"part, pointing out that they were complementary to those of the ",arUer
" resolution adopted by the Commission on Development of Inf,rmation Media in Africa.
He further explained that the authors had had in mind a publication, to be issued every two months or quarterly, of a level appropriate to the African lay-man in to;,'!l and village. It was no exaggeration to say
"that igU~rance was the greatest obstacle to d"velopment±n Africa and such a publication, by informing the masses in simple terms on oommon- piace matters of fact, could constitut" a most useful adjunct to
development ,rork in the f~rm of demonstration and pilotprojocts.
E/CU.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 7
The new Standing Committee on Industry and Natural Resources would presUmably be issuing publications of various kinds! but the purpose of the draft resolution was to ensure that that particular aspect would be dealt with from the outset. The work in the same sphere now being
oarried out by FAO, although admirable, was designed for the world as a whole and there was need for a publication reflecting specific conditions in Africa. The Standing Committee might with advantage investigate how the European countries had tackled the problem of informing the masses when at a similar stage of development to that of Africa to-day.
Mr. SBIHI (Morocco) said he had no objection to the proposal in the draft resolution. lle would merely propose that the word "technical"
be inserted before the word "information" in the second preambular paragraph, to dr-aw the necessary distinction ce tvee n information in the pure sense and information of a technical, eoonomic and social nature.
The amendment was approved.
Mr. LARDNER (Nigeria) remarked that the Cameroun represent- ative had amply justified the proposals contained in the draft resolut- ion. The Nigerian delegation endorsed his views.
The draft resolution (E/CN.14/L.119) , as amended, was adopted unar~mously.
TRADE AND CO~40DITY PROBLEN3 (Agenda itGC 9) (E/CN.14/l25 and Add.l, 134. 138, 139 and Add.l and 2, and l41! E/CN.14!L.99 and L.lOl/REV.l).
The CllAI~~ invited the Executive Secretary to introduce the item.
The EXECUrIVE SECRETARY said that he preferred to outline the Secretariat's basic idcas on developments in the trade field rather than to summarize the documents submitted ~nder the item. The links
E!G~.14(r:)!SR.20·
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between the various studies prepared in 1961 and the overall picture he would present would, he thought, be obvious. Moreover, the studies in question were summarized in his report on the work of the Secretariat
between the Commission's third and fourth sessions (E!CN.14!124, paras.65-91).
In planning the ,·rork of the 3tanding Committee on Trade and its
concomitant working parties, purauant to resolution 28( III), he had become convinced that the problems involved in stimulating and organizing intra- African trade' could best be attacked at the practical level. The work had accordingly been begun by convenir€ a meeting of Customs experts in West Africa, to consider the specific problems in that sub-region a technical job of limited scope, tho results of which it was thought, however, could have great practical importance. As would be seen from the Programme of 1lork and Priorities (B!Cli.14!162), the Secretariat was now engaged in following up the resulting recommendations. It was further intended tO,convene a meetin; of trade experts of the 'three East African and neighbouring countries in 1963, for the same purpose.
The preliminary study made on East African trade (cf. Economic Bulletin for Africa 1962) showed that countries differing significantly in
historical background and economic structure might, by devising institut- ions and trade practioes with Gommon aims, be able to move towards
economic ur~on. The critical questions were tc determine whether and how such action would be expanded to embrace neighbouring countries and the extent to which the me bhoda;uped could be tr-auapLant.e d to other sub- regions.
The African count~ies had themselves taken steps during 1961 to obviate trends towards intorna,lallto:;:k;r. ':'~i) first issue of the Foreign Trade Newsletter contained an article att empt Lng to trace the main events in that direction in 1961, Possible shortcomings in cover- age should be easy to eliminate in similar articles in the future by closer co-operation between the ~;ember States and the 3ecretariat in assembling the r-e qua si,te Lnf'ormatLon,
Most African Governments wers attaching increasing importance to industrial development Nithin their cisneral development plans. That
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 9
was a highly desirable turn of events; but, if industrialization were attempted purely at the individual national level, the end-result ~ould
undoubtedly be the establishmentof·amall-scale industries incapable of being competitive. Indeed, the inadequacy of domestic purchasing power to sustain industrialization on a large scale had serious implications for the future of most African countries.
In that connexion, he felt bound to 'give expression to the apprehen- sion he felt about some of the implications of association of certain African countries with the European Economic Community. Possibly the discussion to come might serve either to mitigate those fears or to influence the direction of development in that sphere.
First, he was conoerned that the privileges offered under the Rome Treaty tG foster industrial development might strengthen the tendency
to industrial self-sufficiency at the national level (cf. E/CN.14/139).
If the relevant clauses of the 1reaty were applicable on a strictly single-8tate basis only, the countrie~ concerned might be tempted to establish industries which were uneconomic. The limitations cf such an approach and the imperative need for co-ordination Were apparent.
It was, however, not clear whether the possibilities of imposing duties or quantitative restrictions might be extended to groups of countries, by the establishment of regional preferential zones, and he would appreciate enlightenment On that pOint.
The new States of Africa were faced with a choice of trade policies at a time when the formation of economic groupinss \las modifying the pattern of international trade. It was important that the countries of the European Economic Community should take into account, in negotiating the possible form and soope of association "ith African
countries, that the time might not be far distant when manufacturing industries geared partly to exportation would playa relatively
important part in African economies. Even if generous allcwance were made for a vigcurous development in intra-African trade, a substantial part of such exports would be destined for the industrialized COuntries.
The changeover could be achi_ved only if the countries of Western Europe
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appreoiated the need to make adjustments in their commercial policies and domestic industrial structures. In particular, preferential treatment should be designed to benefit long-run economic development and industrialization rather than short-term export prospects for traditional commodities.
While it was true that, for a long time to come, the position of the African oountries would continue to be dominated by decisions originating elsewhere, nevertheless, co-ordination of their efforts would influence the course of events and the Standing Committee on Trade offered unique possibilities, on both a regional and a sub-
regional level, for· continuous and oo-ordinated action in that field by the Commission's Member States.
E/CN.14(IV)!SR.20 Page 11
draft resolutions c~rnnitted under the item
the list of speakers on the item was be limited to ten minutes' duration The CEItIRJ<!AN announced that
clOsed. He'suggested that state~ents
and that speakers address themselves both to general matters' and to the two (E/CN.l4/L.99 and L.lOI/Rev.l)
~Ir. ANGUILE (Gabon), formally introducing the,draft r.esolu.tion s,1.:lblllitted .inth~'=e 'Of h~s delegation (E/CN.l4!L -.99), announced,t.ha.t the delegaions of Cameroun, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo '(Brazzaville), CongO (Leopoldville), Dahomey, the Ivory Coast,
Madagascar, M?-uretaina, Niger, Senegal ,and Somaliawish.ed to he assQciated a13 co-sponsors.
Coming to his general statement, he recalled the fears, both
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political and economic which had been expressed' at the third session,
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regarding the possible effects of E~opean economic groupings on the long- term prospects for African industrialization ,~nd on intra-African trade, and whi"ch 'had' resul too in the adoption of Commission resolution 31 (III ).
The "obje6'tive studies carried out in:"pursuance of that resolution would no doubt largely serve to ",l:'.,-,:~r..ate the formor a.Lmo st accusatory
element from the current discussion, since thoy showed that those ,fears were largel.' 'unfounded.
He went on to cite relevant statistics in support of that '~~A&S.
In the period 1958-61, third-country imports into the countries of the European Economic Community in general had risen steadily,at an average annual, rate'of 10'.5 per cerrt , and the volume of trad.e in, the opposited direction had also substantially increased.' The non-assoGiated countries of A£ricahad 'shared in the benefits of chat ge~eral expansion, although admittedly t()a'~,esser extent than the pri'Tileged associated courrertes , As a whol'e, therefore, exports' of baai c commodi ties from Africa to the EEC countries had been rising up ,to the present time, although a number of countries,both associated,a.hd non-associated had. experienced a drop in
1960, due to lbsingsome trade in cof,fee and cocoa to the Latin AmGTican countries. Thus the argument that dsvelopmentawithin the EEC would
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 12
lead to a decrease. in trade with the non-associa tec}- African -coun triee was obviously quite erroneous.
Secondly, the proposals considered at ministerial level for the opening of negotiations On a convention to regulate the relation- ship .between the- EEC and the African associated countries - in which his country had taken no part - showed that the fears of the possibl~
harmful. effects of such association on the economies of the African countries concerned· were- equally ill-foundea.-Indeed,-tha finai document emerging from that meeting explicitly specified, among the aims and objectives of
the association, agricultural diversification and industrialization of t_.e associated countries, while at the sallie time leaving those
countries free to introduce any Customs duties they might deem necessary for the protection of their young industries.
The positive principle ofdevelop1Dent through agricultural diversification and .industrialization was no new discovery of.the year 1961; it. was as old as trading itself. And it was inconceivable
that any responsible government should fail to apply it both at the national level and in negotiations with other countries.
'rhirdly, the claim that African association with the REC would stop or slow down current trends towards an African Common Market was also false, in the same way as it would be going too far to uphold that isolationism was essential for developing intra-African trade.
Acute awareness of the need for intra-African economic co-operation was not the sale prerogative of any one African grouping. the Caeablanca and the Brazzaville and Monrovia groups a~ike had worked out some
of the preliminary steps needed to that end, such as regular exchange of information on trading products, standardization of Customs
nomenclature and external tariffs, etc. What was most needed to foster greater co-operation was mutual consultation, designed to lead to the elimina tion of the resi.du.al consequences of colonialism.
E!CN.14(IV)!SR.20 Page ).)
Lastly, the charge had been made that the associated countries were engaged in promoting greater production of primary commodities and thus might cause a. drop in world market prices. Everyone with any knowledge of the position was aware that in the countries so accused producers enjoyed the highest prices for their products and that the government authorities were conetantly endeavouring, by every available means, to maintain price levels, until such time 'as the requisite conversion of agricultural structures had taken place in Africa.
The cruz of the problem,as had been brought out in the general disoussion at the current session, lay in accelerating development ,Lq Africa, to give a solid economic basis to the political independence that had beeh achieved. Economic independence would not riee out of mere wishee; its IIchievement depended equally on concerted African action' and assistance from outside, furnished in conditions consonant with na;tional dignity. The African countries, for their part, needed"tc'
mobilize and utilize their national resources to the full, through effective planning of co-operation, regional and continental. And outside help
should be directed to making the most positive contribution possible to economic and social development in Africa. If African countries showed themselves Capable of negotiating at t:,is time of change, they wouLd
succeed, he was sure, in convincing ,the European countries that it was both their duty and in their, interest to give Africs unconditional help so that it might eventually take its rightful place in the world.
He went on to discuss the particular problems that would arise for the African countries that were linked with the United Kingdom, once the latter's entry into the EJC became a fact, and to recall the United States move within GATT to have all preferences within the BEC abolished - a move that had been supported recently by further action on the part of African 'countries.
It conclusion, he appealed to all African countries to recognize that the current trend towards E;uropean-American economic integration could not be reversed and to agree that plans for African development to
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to give due consideration
His own country was must be made within that context.
be effective,
determined to follow that policy,provided Europe showed its to Gabon's legitimate interests.
willingness
Introduoing draft resolution E!CN.14/L.I01/Rev.l on the
effects of economic groupings on Af'rican economy, lilr. MENGESRA (Ethiopia.) outlined its main provisions and added that the delegations of Ghana and Guinea wished to joint with those of Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, and the United Arab Republic as oo-sponsors. His own delegation, he said, reserved the right to olarify its position and to answer any questions raieed later in the course of the debate.
l4r. ~!ENSAH (Ghana), referring to item 9 (f) - Concerted Action in the Field of Marketing-. . ~ort. Products from Af'rica - noted from the\- . progress report on the implementation of Co~issionresolution 25(III)
(E/CN.14/141) that a meeting of major African exporters of certain produots would be convened in June 1962 to study commodity stabilization problems.
That meeting, however, might come too late, since by June the European
,
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Economic Community would probably have determined the new form of association with associated Af'rican countries. He understood that, although certain detailed modifioations might be made in the originally proposed levels of discriminatory tariff duties to be applied to the
exports of Af'rican countriss not associated with the EEC, it was intended to maintain the principle of tariff discrimination in the new oonventions of association.
Before proposing a number of amendments to the draft resolution (E/CN.14/L.99) 'introduced by Gabon, which were designed to stress that any trading system which attempted to perpetuate any form of discrimination between one Af'rican country and another ,was contrary to the principle of Af'ric.a.n sol ider i ty, he would explain his Government! s point of view on the subjeot. His Government recognized the usefulness of conoerted aotion , at the African or world level for etabil1zation of primary commodity
trade and accordingly could subscribe to the first preambular paragraph of the draft resolution.
E!CN.14(IV)!SR.20 Page 15
However, his Government could nJt accept the invitation implicit in the following two paragraphs to joint the Franc Zone or the Common Market or both. While the Common Market coun~ries were important trading partners to Ghana and in recent years had bOUght more of its cocoa than the United Kingdom and the United States put together, there were 'two serious objections to joining the EEO. F'irst, it was only the economic facet of an essentially political association between European countriee, which was one of the rE/asons why Canada, India and Ghana,among others in the Collllllonweal th, had expresssd rsservations regarding Great Britain's application for membership.
Itco,uldbe taken for' granted that the African cQuntriesassociats,dwith til'DC were fully a>rare of its Political nature buy Ghana ,for "its ,part,
sought its political future in a union with other African ,States ,and did not intend to become a part of Europe. It would not enter into entangJing
associations with any non-African States.
His Government's' second objection to association with JEC ~as.based
on economic oonsiderations, since it entailed special reciprocal obligations,. . , . ' , . in the field of tariffs. In that connexacn , he noted from document
E/CN.14!139 (paragraph 9) that the Republic of Madagascar had recently introduced a new tariff system exempting imports from Common Market"'.
'.
countries from Customs duties. His Government believed that African countries with a fairly similar level of economic development could exchange tariff concessions in an African Common Market.,and achieve considerable progress in African industrial development and trade by
co-ordinatinginv~stment plans. It was for those reasons that .. Ghana could not agree to enter into any special arrangements with EEO; the price of opening its immature economy to such a fatally unequal relation- ship was too high. Nor did Ghana seek any special advantages in a
system that would discriminate against its competitors.
While not seeking any special privileges, his Government believed that it had a right to demand that its trade should not be subjected to any special disadvantages, and that that right should be recognized by
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 16
GATT and the Internation ~IQneta,ry Fund from whioh it hoped to hear unambiguous affirn£Ltions. The United states Government's reoent
appeal to EEC for ,joint measures to stabilize world oommodity markets as an important aid to primary exporting oountriss and for the removal of disoriminatory praotioes ,was a sOuroe of encouragsment, and he hoped it would meet with a pos~tive response.
The violation of Africa's right to non-disoriminatory treatment in matters of trade by the Common Market also oonstituted a threai to Afrioan solidarity, as had been po.rnted out by the United Nations Under- Seoretary for Eoonomic and ,Sooial Affairs, ,'who had warne,<,!. Afrioa, in itsloD€""term interest, not to aoceptany trading arrangements ,that,would perpetuate divisions among the Afrioan oountries.
He then formally proposed:
(1)
that the four preambular paragraphs of the draft resolution submitted by Gabon (E/CN.14!h.99) should be,~repla.oed,by the following:"Believing that' no truly rational solution to the problems of oommodity trade' oan be found in a system whioh would introduoe a lasting element of discrimination between neighbouring,Afrioan oountries bound together by a whole network of similar interests and common aspirations;
Conslder:lng that 1al1:Y me<\sures which may be presently neoessary but which run counter, to Afric&n solidarity should be envisaged as, interim steps , designed to alleviate the difficultie,s of too abrupt a transition, but leading towards a more rational andsatie!actory system;
Affirming that the interests of the African countries will, in the last analysis, be better served if a true solidarity is established among them than if they seek, individually orin small groups, to obtain special advantages through tarif! and other disoriminations;
issued a warning
'.- ,
checked in time,
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 17
Noting that through ooncorted action it is possible to solve
'the
problemof
international commodity trade without resort to practices disoriminatory a:s between Afrioan countries;"(2) that the firct operativ~ paragraph of the Gabon resolution should be amended to read:
"I. fegueets the Executive Secretary to bring the above
decl~ations to the attention of all Covcr~m¥~ts and o~har
bodies concerned 'with these matters)"
Mr. IBRAHIM (Nigeria), referring to draft resolution E/CN.14/L.IOl/
Rev.l, of which his delegation was a co-sponSOf, said that the question at issue was hcw to prevent the continued exploitation of African natural and human' r-esour-oe e by vast numbers
c:
Europeans whose prosperity was linked up with the policy of the1rgovernments. The 'traditional pattern of world trade between Africa, on the one hand, and Western Europe and North America, on'the other, was out-dated arid no longor in the interests of Africart economic development. For many years Africa's exports had bean sold on a buyer's market while the buyers had been oporating on a seller's market, the result being a persistent imbala4cc in trading activities and a continuous da terio ration in terms of trade. His delegation was convinced that the only solution to the problem lay in the diversification of all African economies and a reorientation o~ external trading systems. Heabout the great danger of balkanization, which, if not could only lead to a shrinkage of African economy.: .
.
It was for those reasons that his delegation had welcomed the proposal to
.,\" " ~,,' ,
set ~ a Standing 90mmittee,on Trade. ,In the case of West Africa, four work-
\ ' • L :'~;; , ",.' ' , . ' " " - ;>, ,
ing parties would be set up to deal with the harmonization of Customs
[ , .,- " " ,":,,.
and fiscal policies, the structure of overland trade between West African countries and the promotion ~f trade in looally produ~edgoods. ' For the expansion' of' traiie it wa~es'santial that Customs systems and formali ties should bi/'s"tandardlzed'anii simplified. I t was his delegation's hope that
E!CN.14(IV)!SR.ZO Page 18
emphasis would be plaoed by the Working Party on the marksting of Afrioan raw materials and manufaotured goods. In that oonnexion, he would refeI to
the International Fair to be held in Nigeria in 1961 in whioh all Members of the Commission were invited to partioipate, and SO help to demonstrate that Afrioa was ready to play an important role in world trade. However, all efforts for the promotion and expansion of intra-Afrioan trade would be of little use if equal attention was not paid to the improvement of
transport and oommunioation systems.
Lastly, while Afrioa had a oommon' interest in European and world demands for her goods, no situation snould be allowed to arise in whioh one Afrioan oountry oould introduoe an element of disorimination against neighbouring African oountries to whioh it was bound by a
whol~'networkof similar interests and aspirations.
Mr.
EL-BANNA (United Arab Republio) pointed to five aspeots of assooiation between oertain Afrioan oountries and the EEC whioh would have unfavourable results:"(1) Industrialization - sinoe Afrioan industries would be at a disadvantage in relation to well-established European ones, an~,tariff exemptions or reduotions would militate against a oompreheneive
national programme;
\Z)
trade - beoause pre-independenoe produotion and trade ralationa with Europe would be maintained, and would lead to the monopolization ofthe foreign trade 'of assooiated oountries;
(3) diversifioation of markete - beoause the external economy of assooiated Afrioan oountries would be VUlnerable to' oonditions or
deoisions imposed on them by the European bloo(it had been diversifioation of trade that had enabled the United Arab Republio to offset suoessfu~ly the eoonomic blooka~e waged against it during the Suez orises)l
(4) aid ~ sinoe the assistanoe given by the European bloo to the assooiated African oountries represented only oonditional aid (ample assistanoe was more and more forthooming through international bOdiss SO that there was no ground for oonoern about the non-availability of aid to Afrioa);and
E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 19
(5) inter-regional trade - since associate membarship in the
EEC copstituted.discrimination against other African countries and might also hamper united ef~rts for the establishment of an African
Common )larket.
Mr. AmIED (Sudan), speaking of recent developments in West- European economic groupings (E/CN.14/l39 and Add.l and 2), .aid that his delegation's view on the issue before tha Commission could be summed up under five points. First, any economic grouping necessarily
entailed the institution of defensive groupings and was therefore at
v~iance with the principles of freedom of trade. Seoondly,
by Gott:,1g upa restriotod fcoe-trado t::·ca, the EEG was establishing a new form of disorimination from which Africa was likely to suffer.
Thirdly, the du.ty-frGe admission into the EEC of commodities from certain African territories would create an artificial etimulus which would disrupt the free interplay of the continent's eccncm.es , Fourthly,
thev~ry existence of the ~EC modified the international flow of both cap Ltal and technical assistance to Africa's detrioent. Fifthly, the EEC stood in the way of intra-African trade. He might add that one of the gravest dangers of the EEC was its destructive impact on African induetrialization.
Since the EEC was an existing reality ttct had to be accepted as su.oh, the Commission's task should be to stuCy closely its progress and
future development. That .task was not an easy one, because many of the EEC agreements had not yet been made public and the position of the Uni ted Kingdom was s till unknown.
Although his Government was opposed in principle to assooiation with the EEC,it would advocate further study on the linee of draft resolution E/CN.14!L.lOl Rev. 1. His delegation was in full agreement with the
operative paragraph which stated that an appeal should be made to
associated African countries not to make commitments which would impede
E!CN.14(IV)!SR.20 Page 20
progress in concerted action for economic development and intra-African trade. Such association, in his delegation'j view, entailed not only purely economic considerations but far-reaching political consequenoes likely to disrupt the concept of African uni.ty and B01idari ty.
lIJr. MBARIKO (Congo, Leopo1dville). fully agreed wi th the views expressed by the representative of Gabon and supported draft
resolution E!CN.14!L.99. With reference to draft ~esolution E!CN.14!L.IOl Rev.l, his delegation failed to sea W1Y African oountries should waive
the advantages guaranteed under the Rome Treaty merely because of a possible d.anger that 8.889ciatio;, with the BEC migh'c impede tho development of
African trade. 1TIore was no divergonce between economio association of African countries with ~~rcpe ~~d their co-op6ration with other African cOULtries. .Association on en equal footing in the EEC did not exclude '.he :.'lgh·r, to refuse c.artain condi ticns considered to be
unf'avour-ab Le t:l A:frican countries, Africa was claar1y still a primary:- producing con t tnent and" if existing Af:.:ic'ln markets offered little outlet for the prima.,,:,y ccmmodftee produced, it ;rould be unwise to reject the advaptages dsrivable f~o~ association with the Common Market. His delegation could not agree with the conclusion reached in document E!CN.14!139 that the advantages of tarilf reduotions were likely to be illusory if the~ropean countries continued to maintain commcn external taxes on tropical commodity exports. That could only be so if tariffs on quotas were increased 5.nstead of remaining at their f'ormer levels.
His Government wculd natu~al:y be u~posed to any policy of increased tariffs on quotas.
Association with the EEC implied the possibility of international financial aid to ensure proper coverage of industrial investbents and thus help to speod up African industrialization" It was precisely because existing European econ~mic groupi:'lgs offered an 0pportunity for expedi tillg development ::'n Africa by the diversification of its production that it wouid b o well for Af:dcans to take advantage of such
EjCN.14(IV)/SR.20 Page 21
possibilities, while at the same tlme reaching agreement in order to avoid overlapping in industr1alinvestments and thus achieve inereased national revenue and savings.
In conclusion, his delegation took the view that the solution
prd;os~d
in draft resolution E/CN.14/L.IOl/Rev.l was a negative one, since the'b~ilding
up of Africa in no way implied the destruction ofeverything non-African.
,. lIlr. CASTON (1]nited Kingdom) did not propose to df.acuae in, detail the .:t~p,resolutions (E!CN.14/L.99 and E/CN.14/L.IOI/Rev.1) or the amendments submitted theroto. He wished instead to try to set out his Government',s position briefly and in general terms.
First of all, as the leader of his delegation had said in his general statement on agenda item
5,
his Government did not think'thlVt the e~isting European economio groupings could have the disrupting' or .~ampering effeots which sone speakers had suggested. The e~istenoe ofa more united Europe might indeed reduce the e~isting divisions in Africa, and, by providing wider markets and inoreased aid, in the long run actually promote economic and industrial development in Africa. His delegation had every reason to hop~ that the arrangements finally made, oncel eurrent negotiations between the United Kingdom and the six present members of the Common Market were oompleted,wou11 oarry with them real economic benefits with, of course, no political strings whatsoverattached.
l~thosoriegotiationsware suooessful, the disadvantages arising from the existenoe of two different -'7:"'::~~''':;'''::';J.l systems in Afrioa would be
progressi~ely overoome. That would only happen if it was agreed that assoe'iiition"with the expanded European Economio Community, or, equival en t benefits, where available to Commonwealth countries in Afrioa, and if, wnenthe area of' assooiation was so extended, the interests of ,third oountries 'not parties to ~ha wider assooiation were not forgotten'. c,,,
E!CN.14(IV)!SR.20
Page 22
Ae indicated earlier, his delegation also believed that any future form of association with the European Common Market should be compatible wi th the poseibili ty of an African Common Market or of freer and more profitable trading arrangements between African countries. Equally it was believed that the arrangements entered into should in no w~
preclude the negotiation of wider int,~national agreements for oomm9dity stabilization and marketing where those appeared desirable and praoticable.
He hoped that his statement had shown that, in the negotiations now under consideration, his delegation was fully conscious of the various
., ,
int~rests concerned, namely those of Commonwealth countries and, of the States already associated with the Co~on Market and with third
• . I • ,. -
countries in ~Srica, as also of the interests of the existing six- country COl:munity in Europe. 1\i th goodwill on the part of all those concerned solutions could be found which would give a reasonable balance to all the interests involved.
He reserved tile riGht to interveno again in the discussion should the need ari ae ,
l!Jr; HOR:rOl: (Liberia), referring to the progress report on the dmp Lement.at i on of re"ol:.ltio'l 2) (III; ccncer-nang international action for commodity price Gtabilization, suggested that rubber should be included in 'cho list ofcocmod.i tios to be studied at the proposed mesting of African pril"nry-producing countries.
As a sponsor of draft ~esolution Z!CN.l4!L.IOl Rev.l, he ooncurred in the vie'ws ""p?:'cssod b;," his co-eaponaor-n , and supported the
amendments tablod OJ t~~ roprooent0tivo 0: Ghana. His delegation was concerned. 'about t:,e outcome of ';he nogotiations for the modification of the Ro~e Tre~ty, and wished to oall attention to paragraph 76 of' do cunerrt m!Cn.14!139 reGardinG' thO) possible adverse effects on Afrioan oou:n~ries should the United lCnc:<lom of join the EEC. Deepi te the
reassuring remarks of the D1ited Ki~B~OD representative, his Government
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E/CN.14(IV)/SR.20
Page 23
was still apprehensive about the permanent linking of African countries with eoonomio groupings outside Africa and believed that the whole problem required further olose study.
Other oonsiderations his oountry had to bear in mind in determining the possible future effeots of' the Common Market on its trade werel
first, traditional and other agricUltural commodities were likely to become increasingly inportant in Liberia's export trade; seoondly, iron-ore produotion would soon beoome an export earner; thirdly, the expeoted increase in tho produotion of industrial raw materials, coupled with the desirability of greater economic diversification, pointed to the need for greater efforts at industrialization; fuurthly, assuming the success of such efforts and considering the smallness of the domestic market, it was necessary to depend heaVily on Common Market countries as an outlet for LiboI'i~~ produots; fifthly, the reoent remarkable rate of income groHth in both COltLlOn l:arket and Af'rican countries suggested a large and growing f'xport market for primary and seconda.ry products.
Taking a~l thosa factors into account, a~y discrimination against Liberia'sC:::7":C';Cl courd have serj.ous consequences. IUs Government would therefore prefer to cee stoady progross or.o~g African countries towards the establishment of an }Jrican Common Market and oo-operation within that framework with industrial groupings outside }Jrica. An Afrioan Common J,jarket olosely integrated "ith the African Development Bank and the African Development Insti~Jte, the harmonization of development plans among African countrios and increasing multilateral financial assistanoe would give the dosired impetus to the aspirations of African countries for rapid economic and 5~cial development.
The meeUn,,; rose at 12.50 p.m.
