Philippines wins seat in UN trade law body

MANILA — The Philippines on Tuesday (New York time) won a seat in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (Uncitral) in elections that took place some 35 years after it first served in that UN body, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations said today.

In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Ambassador Hilario Davide, Jr., Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said the Philippines was elected by acclamation during the 35th plenary meeting of the 64th Session of the General Assembly.

Davide said the Philippines will serve a six-year term in Uncitral, the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law, from 2010 to 2016 beginning 21 June 2010. The Philippine previously served in the 60-member Uncitral from 1974 to 1986.

Elected along with the Philippines were Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Fiji, Gabon, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, the United States of America, and Venezuela. Two seats representing Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean respectively are still vacant.

The Uncitral election followed the election of the Philippines last month to a three-year term in the Economic and Social Council, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, which serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues.

In May, the Philippines was elected President of the 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and later as Vice Chairman of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) of the 64th Session of the General Assembly and as Vice Chairman of the 18th Session of the Committee on Sustainable Development.

Prior to this, the Philippines was also elected to the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Population and Development, and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which are all subsidiary organs of the UN.

Established in 1966, Uncitral is mandated to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement, and infrastructure development.

Uncitral also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting member-states to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement Uncitral texts.

The Commission is made up of 60 member-states representing the world's various geographic regions and its principal economic and legal systems. Members of the Commission are elected by the General Assembly for terms of six years, with the terms of half the members expiring every three years.

The following member-states will end their terms in June: Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Gabon, Guatemala, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, United States, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

The term of the following 30 Uncitral members will continue until 2013: Armenia, Bahrain, Benin, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.

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