27 July 1988

39th plenary meeting

Strengthening the role of the Commission on Transnational Corporations and the activities of the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations in support of developing countries

The Economic and Social Council,

Reaffirming its resolutions 1908 (LVII) of 2 August 1974 and 1913 (LVII) of 5 December 1974 on the impact of transnational corporations on the development process and on international relations,

Noting the reports of the Secretary-General submitted to the Commission on Transnational Corporations at its fourteenth session,

Noting also the important contribution made by the Commission and the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations to furthering the understanding of the operations of transnational corporations and the effects of their activities on developing host countries and on the international economic situation,

1. Reaffirms the validity of the mandates of the Commission on Transnational Corporations and the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations;

2. Emphasizes the need for the Centre to reinforce its role in strengthening the capacity of developing host countries in their dealings with transnational corporations by providing, through its technical co-operation programme, advisory services to those countries at their request, and urges all funding agencies of the United Nations, in particular the United Nations Development Programme, to co-operate actively in that task;

3. Requests the Centre to continue its studies on political, economic and social issues and on the global trends and determinants of the flow of foreign direct investment and on the impact of those trends and the expansion of transnational corporations on developing countries;

4. Requests the Centre, in continuing its work in the area of transnational corporations in services, to prepare, in co-operation with the appropriate organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, a comprehensive report on the relationship between developing countries and transnational corporations in services from the perspective of developing countries;

5. Reaffirms the importance of continuing consideration of the issues related to the activities of transnational banks and their corporate strategies and the different mechanisms currently envisaged to alleviate the debt problem and their potential impact on the capital accounts of developing countries; in that context, consideration should also be given to the effective repayment capacity of debtor developing countries, allowing for the maintenance of satisfactory growth in their economies;

6. Recognizes that debt other than bank lending, such as supplier loans and export credits handled by transnational corporations, is of concern to developing countries, and requests the Centre to study such forms of debt comprehensively, with a view to making concrete proposals on ways and means of making the modalities and terms of payment comport with the capacity of developing countries to pay and with their growth and development process;

7. Expresses concern that some transnational corporations have relocated environmentally dangerous operations and processes in developing countries, and requests the Centre to intensify its study of the environmental impact of the operations of transnational corporations in developing countries and to provide technical assistance to developing host countries, at their request, for the development of adequate environmental protection policies relating to the operations of transnational corporations;

8. Requests the Centre to assist in the preparation of the report of the Secretary-General on illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products and wastes in accordance with General Assembly resolution 42/183 of 11 December 1987 and in the expeditious publication of the fourth issue of the Consolidated List of Products Whose Consumption and/or Sale have been Banned, Withdrawn, Severely Restricted or Not Approved by Governments;

9. Also requests the Centre to study the role of transnational corporations in the least developed countries in a comprehensive manner, and requests the Secretary-General to submit a report thereon to the Commission on Transnational Corporations at its fifteenth session;

10. Reiterates the need for the Centre to intensify its technical co-operation with host developing countries in dealing with transnational corporations in services, at their request;

11. Reiterates also the importance of the expeditious completion of the code of conduct on transnational corporations, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to assist the Chairman presiding at the special session of the Commission in implementing the tasks assigned to him by the Economic and Social Council in resolution 1987/57 of 28 May 1987;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Commission on Transnational Corporations at its fifteenth session under the appropriate agenda items.