United Nations: India has demanded a fundamentalreform of global economic governance ensuring changes in voting structure andaccountability to bring down 'subtle trade barriers' that destroy jobs.

"The job destruction through the inability of manydeveloping countries' farmers to compete, as a result of subsidies in thedeveloped world, is well-known," India's Permanent Representative to theUnited Nations, Nirupam Sen, said yesterday (Feb 9,2007).

Taking part in a debate on 'Promoting Full Employment andDecent Work for all' at the 45th session of the commission for SocialDevelopment, Sen recalled Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath's lament,"We can deal with a flood of goods coming in but we cannot deal with aflood of subsidies."

"In fact, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2007 reportmakes the point that one of the reasons why unemployment is not reallydecreasing significantly in spite of growth is the shift away from agriculture,including from food crops, "said Sen.

In the case of non-agricultural goods, fair tradeliberalisation could have offset the unemployment-creating effects ofliberalised imports because exporters are more productive than non exportingplants and higher exports mean more job creation and less job destruction forthe economy, but this effect is impeded by what have been described as subtle trade barriers.

"Trade barriers for developing countries remain - even thetariffs, in actual terms, imposed by the developed on developing countries arefar higher than on fellow developed countries, "Sen said.

"Unemployment can be even more wasteful not just economicallybut in terms of wasted lives, so many strong men's courage broken, somany hands numbed as though by nightshade", he said.

Externally, globalisation means that inefficient enterpriseshave to close down under competitive pressure, which causes unemployment. TheIMF programmes combine encouraging privatisation with high interest rates.

This makes job creation more difficult. Sequencing is critical and has often beenignored and hence a fast pace of liberalisation before ensuring socialsecurity, training in new skills and an adequate regulatory framework has oftencreated problems.

"The IMF therefore needs to update and integrate even intoits current activity its original Keynesian mandate of providing resources tostrengthen aggregate effective demand," Sen said.

The Indian delegate welcomed the Secretary-General'saffirmation of the need for creating an enabling environment at theinternational and national level as a key challenge for realising fullemployment and decent work.

"We hope that the current session of the Commission forSocial Development would provide more insights into the effective realisationof the Millennium Development Goals, particularly to halve extreme poverty by2015 and foster social integration by making employment a central objective ofnational and international macroeconomic policies" he said.