'In modern times there has never been free trade' the General Assembly debates globalization.

Developing countries frequently brought up the issue of globalization in the general debate of the fifty-seventh General Assembly session, particularly with respect to free trade and market liberalization. Latin American countries were the most vocal about these, and many expressed their frustrations regarding the structure of markets and the global economy. Economic and political globalization offers benefits but requires good governance and a systematic, shared effort by the international community to establish the rules of the new global system, said Maria Soledad Alvear, Foreign Minister of Chile. "We are convinced that active participation in international trade is a positive means of achieving growth, increasing employment, innovating in technology and being effective in the allocation of resources", she said. Globalization could be an opportunity for countries such as hers that are far away from major consumer centres and international flows. Chile had opened its markets, and its citizens are pleased w ith the results.

President Gustavo Noboa Belarano of Ecuador said that industrialized countries demand austerity, fiscal discipline and respect for free trade of developing States and, in return, they "shut their doors in our faces" when developing countries try to gain access to first-world markets for their goods. He said: "Developed countries still do not understand that our peoples, in their poverty, are deeply perceptive and until today they fail to understand the benefits of a globalization process that threatens to never knock at their doors." Celso Lafer, Foreign Minister of Brazil, said "speculative attacks" on national currencies can have negative impact on countries' abilities to maintain balances of payment and continue government policies.

Protectionist barriers to trade are suffocating developing economies, and liberalizing the agricultural sector "has been nothing more than a promise repeatedly put off to an uncertain future". He added that globalization requires reform of economic and financial institutions and must "not be limited to the triumph of the market".

Uruguay's export products cannot compete with similar goods from other countries because of their higher cost due to Uruguay's fulfilment of international obligations regarding child labour, minimum wages, social benefits and working conditions, said Foreign Minister Didier Opertti. Developed countries preach respect for human rights and the strengthening of social security, but buy lower priced products that are manufactured, in violation of international laws. A better framework is needed to manage the globalization of the economy, and the United Nations is the "natural body" for this task.

Globalization leads to the reduction of state sovereignty, with the "weakest and the smallest being the biggest losers," said Patrick Albert Lewis, Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. Arguments for globalization give no consideration to the individual needs of countries for a different pace, direction and content of trade liberalization due to different levels of development or the necessity to build up national capabilities, Industrialized countries insist on free trade for the developing world, but at the same time exempt themselves from it. Rich and powerful countries implement protective measures for their industries, in particular the agricultural sector. It is known, he said, that "in modern times there has never been free trade".