UN General Assembly
1968

134. Unfortunately, to this gloomy picture of the international political situation must be added the no less gloomy picture created by the immense discrepancy of wealth among countries and by the protectionist trends of the richest States. As a member of the Group of Seventy-Seven, which recently grew to eighty-nine, and suffering the fate of the economically deprived countries, Burundi cannot help but regret the refusal of the industrial powers, at the second UNCTAD session at New Delhi, to abandon their traditional trade machinery. It goes without saying that the protectionist measures applied or projected by the developed States are an obstacle to the progress of the developing nations. It must also be recognized that international co-operation is impeded when equality of rights is not observed in trade agreements between members of the international community. A better order of world trade cannot be established without the determination of the industrially developed States to remove the obstacles and restrictions on imports of products from the developing countries. Since UNCTAD is responsible for the improvement of trade relations among Members of the United Nations, it should set to work to abolish as rapidly as possible the restrictive practices that are hampering and retarding the flow of imports from the poor nations.