The recent tsunami waves in the Indian Ocean caused widespread devastation of vital economic sectors of affected countries in the region, seriously undermining their prospects for development and poverty eradication. Enormous damage has been done in particular to fisheries, agriculture, textiles, tourism and other export-oriented sectors. Exports from the fisheries and tourism sectors alone represent over $30 billion of the annual export earnings of the countries concerned, all of which is now at risk. Destruction of business, transport and communication infrastructure has made prospects for immediate recovery more difficult.
Years of progress have been washed away. The losses have direct negative effects on employment and sustainable livelihoods and can be expected to significantly raise poverty levels and delay realization of the Millennium Development Goals. Urgent international assistance can help restore economic output and trade. The international trading system must play its full part in complementing international efforts to help these countries get back on their feet, particularly by helping them generate additional resources through exports.
The humanitarian response by the international community, under UN leadership, needs to be matched by a coherent, comprehensive and longer-term package of policy measures and actions to support and revive economic activity in the affected countries. As the UN Secretary-General has stated, there is a need for "efforts in the longer term, as we move from saving lives to recovery and reconstruction". Immediate trade measures for the affected export-oriented sectors could have a strong impact on socio-economic recovery. The UNCTAD secretariat´s preliminary assessment indicates that immediate trade measures by the international community could include:
- A temporary provision of duty-free treatment to imports from the affected countries, in line with WTO rules and disciplines;
- An immediate suspension and/or termination of all special trade-restraining measures, such as anti-dumping actions, against products originating in the affected countries, such as seafood and processed agricultural products;
- Immediate measures to strengthen the capacities of the affected developing countries and their businesses to restore the infrastructure needed to conform with sanitary and phytosanitary standards for their exports;
- Relaxation of market access for services providers of the affected countries, so as to help generate additional foreign exchange;
- Special measures to revive the tourism industry and infrastructure, including a more supportive approach to travel advisories and improved access to information and distribution channels; and Actions to support the rebuilding of trade logistics and other related services infrastructure.
The UNCTAD secretariat also considers that medium- and longer-term trade measures in favour of the affected and other vulnerable developing countries should be effectively addressed in the context of ongoing multilateral trade negotiations under the Doha Work Programme.
