Free Trade of Durable Goods

[Gulliver]

The General Assembly of the United Nations,

RECOGNIZING the role that the trade of durable goods plays in the global economy;

FURTHER RECOGNIZING the role that the sale of these goods plays in providing manufacturing jobs;

NOTING the beneficial effect that these goods have on people's daily lives by making numerous home and business related activities less labour intensive, more efficient and more enjoyable;

FURTHER NOTING that durable goods includes equipment vital to medical research and that increasing access to such equipment could lead to a cure for cancer in our lifetimes;

DEFINES, for the purposes of this legislation, "durable goods" as goods or consumer products that have a useful life extending more than three years. Examples include, but are not limited to, automobiles, home appliances, home furnishings and fixtures, and business, medical, electronic, and manufacturing equipment.

HEREBY

1. ENCOURAGES the sale and/or transfer of durable goods between UN nations;

2. ENCOURAGES all nations to increase their citizens access to durable goods by creating favourable business environments for retailers who market these goods;

3. REQUIRES the elimination of protectionist devices restricting the trade of durable goods, including but not limited to tariffs, duties, subsidies, subventions and quotas, within eleven years;

4. DECLARES that nations may apply reasonable restrictions on trade in the following cases:

- to ensure the stability of industries supplying essential products (such as military equipment or other items vital to national security);
- in times of severe economic crisis, where such measures are required to ensure a stable supply of durable goods;
- to collect revenue for the sole purposes of economic recovery following severe collapse;

5. DECLARES it the right of nations to impose cultural, safety, environmental, ethical or other regulations on durable goods and their manufacture, provided any such regulations are administered in a non-protectionist manner;

6. EMPHASIZES that UN member nations reserve the right to employ retaliatory tariffs towards non-UN nations to prevent price dumping;

7. AUTHORIZES the United Nations Free Trade Commission (UNFTC) to arbitrate any trade disputes which may arise concerning the implementation of this legislation. Such arbitration may include, but is not limited to, cases involving alleged price dumping by UN members upon UN members, alleged violations of Articles 3, 4 and 5 of this legislation, and disputes over the interpretation of the terms and conditions of this legislation.

[Allama]

AGAINST.