As this was the first issue of the CITC Reporter, much of the material presented relates to the origins and the developments leading to the creation of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. The rest of the issue is mainly devoted to describing current and future tasks of the United Nations in the field of transnational corporations. Since the code of conduct received the highest priority in the UNCTC work programme, the issue includes a detailed description of the work being carried out in this connection. There is also a summary of the activities of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Corrupt Practices and of an Ad Hoc Group of Experts on the Establishment of International Standards of Accounting and Reporting. The three other main functions of the Centre are also presented: collection, analysis and dissemination of information; research and policy analysis on the economic, political, social and legal aspects of the operations of transnational corporations, as well as training and advisory services. On each of these matters, the mandates given on the on-going work are described. The Forum contains articles by L.K. Jha, on the United Nations and the Transnationals, and by Philippe de Seynes on transnational corporations in the framework of a New International Economic Order.

This issue summarizes the principal on-going activities in the area of transnational corporations in the United Nations and elsewhere. First it reports on the third session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. The progress of work of the Working Group on the Code of Conduct is also highlighted. The issue reports also on the creation of group of expert advisers designed to advise in their individual capacity the Commission and the Working Group on the Code of Conduct. The list of the first 16 expert advisers is provided. In the Forum, expert advisers express their views on issues related to transnational corporations and on the work of the Commission. A progress report on the technical cooperation activities of the Centre, and an article on the progress of the negotiations on a Code of Conduct on the Transfer of Technology completes the picture of important United Nations activities. Finally, the section on activities outside the United Nations includes a description of the new Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises signed by the OECD countries, and a report on the ILO project to elaborate a Tripartite Declaration on Multinational Corporations and Social Policy

This issue discusses progress made regarding negotiations at the United Nations on issues related to transnational corporations: first it reports on the on-going work of the Intergovernmental Working Group on a Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations; second, it notes that negotiations in the area of corrupt practices were reaching an advanced stage; third, it discusses a new recommendation to establish an intergovernmental group to develop international standards of accounting and reporting. With respect to other United Nations bodies, this issue discusses the recommendations of the ILO Governing Body for the possible incorporation of the tripartite declaration on social policy guidelines into the code of conduct. It also deals with negotiations in UNCTAD on a Code of Conduct on the Transfer of technology, and on restrictive business practices which were entering a decisive phase. The issue also discusses the results of the work of the Centre in different fields of endeavor. In the Forum, this issue hosts the views of Celso Furtado and Professor Raymond Vernon.

This issue has as its main theme the activities of transnational corporations in southern Africa. In particular, it aims at publicizing the findings of a study on the activities of transnational corporations in southern Africa, especially in the baking and financial sectors, and their social, cultural and employment impact. In addition to several articles on the subject, three individuals present their viewpoints from their different perspectives: Ambassador Leslie Harriman of Nigeria, Chairman of the Ai-Apartheid Committee, Henry Ford II, Chairman of an automobile company with important investments in South Africa, and Dennis Akumu, Secretary of the Organization of African Trade Unions. The issue also reports on a major study prepared by the Centre, Transnational Corporations in World Development: A Re-examination, as sequel to the 1973 publications Multinational Corporations in World Development. Two other reports, one on the information system and one on technical cooperation are also briefly described. Finally, the issue presents the usual coverage of TNC-related activities in other forums and the recent progress in the Working Groups on the Code of Conduct and on the Problem of Corrupt Practices.

This issue contains detailed coverage of the fourth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations and of the meetings of the Intergovernmental Working Groups on the Code of Conduct and on Illicit Payments. The later group was able to advance substantially in its work and present to the Economic and Social Council a draft text of a Convention to prevent and eliminate illicit payments in international commercial transactions. The text of the draft convention is included. The Focus section includes articles by Janez Stanovnik, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe on TNCs in the Development of East-West Economic Relations and by G.A. Wagner, Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, on Negotiations between Developing Countries and Transnational Corporations.

This issue devotes considerable space to the work towards the formulation of the TNC Code of Conduct. The text of the preliminary formulations of the Code provisions by the Chairman are reproduced in this issue. Ample coverage is also given to a paper on the possible legal nature and implementation machinery of the Code prepared by the Centre. A summary of the Working Group's work is also presented. The Forum section features articles by Enrique Iglesias on the activities of transnational corporations in Latin America, and by Otto Kersten, on the trade union's viewpoints regarding transnational corporations. The issue discusses relevant activities in UNCTAD, on restrictive business practices and on the Code of Conduct on the Transfer of Technology, and on the initiatives in UNIDO in the field of transfer of technology.

This issue reports on the fifth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations, and on the progress of work of the Intergovernmental Working Groups on the Code of Conduct and on the Problem of Illicit Payments. Regarding the former, it features the Chairman's statement in which he recapitulates the achievements so far reached by the Group and suggests ideas on the future work. With respect to the latter, the issue reports that the Group had completed its formulation of a draft international agreement and includes the text of such draft agreement. The research section presents summaries of research done on the International Development Strategy and TNCs; on TNCs and science and technology; on strategic South African industries and on TNCs in reinsurance. The Forum section contains remarks by Kenneth Dadzie given at the opening of the fifth session of the Commission, and an article by Horst Heininger on the outcome of the Commission session. A selection of the technical cooperation projects carried out by the UNCTC are also summarized. Finally, it reports on the outcome of UNCTAD V and on the ILO World Employment Conference

This issue centers on developments at the sixth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. In addition to its annual review of the work of the Centre on Transnational Corporations, the Commission dealt with two items: the requests for clarifications on certain matters submitted to it by the working Group on a Code of Conduct, and the request by the United Nations General Assembly for evaluation of the progress achieved in implementing the new international economic order. The text of the resolutions adopted by the Commission of these issues is included in the issue. Complementary to this, this issue presents three different perspectives on TNC issues: Mr. Adedeji, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa brings out the issues he considersto be of special relevance for Africa; Mr. Maisonrouge, Chairman of IBM Europe/Middle East/ Africa, gives an illustration, taken from the experience of its corporation, of the social actions that a TNC can perform; and Professor Angelopoulos, former Governor of the National Bank of Greece, speaks about prospects in North/South relations and the import of the report of the Brandt Commission.

A considerable part of this issue is devoted to summaries of the several reports which were to be presented to the sixth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations in areas of research, information and technical cooperation. Together, they provide the readers with an overview of the activity displayed by the UNCTC in the previous twelve months. The leading article of this issue contains an evaluation of the progress achieved in the implementation of the new economic order in the area of transnational corporations. This subject was the theme of the special item of the Commission's agenda. The Forum section of this issue presents an article by Aldo Ferrer, former Minister of Finance of Argentina, and interviews with Sir Arthur Lewis, recipient of the Nobel Price for Economics 1979, and one of the expert advisers to the Commission, and by Douglas Frazer, President of the United States Automobile Workers Union.

This issue includes in the Forum articles by Raul Prebisch on transnational corporations in the 1980s, and by Paul Streeten on issues for transnational corporations in world development. It also contains the text of the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices prepared by UNCTAD and adopted by the General Assembly in the fall of 1980. There are also short articles on some of the reports which UNCTC is submitting to the seventh session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations, as well as brief descriptions of other activities of UNCTC with an annotated bibliography of some recent publications.

This issue centers on developments at the seventh session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. In particular, the recommendation to extend the mandate of the Working Group on a Code of Conduct and the Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting are highlighted. It also reports on the ongoing activities of the UNCTC, paying special attention to the work of the Joint Units. For each of them, it reviews the activities carried out during the year 1981. The Focus section contains interviews with Kari Tapiola, General Secretary of the OECD's Trade Union Advisory Committee, and with Joel Davidow, a Washington attorney. Tapiola presents his views on the United Nations, ILO and OECD codes of conduct as they relate to trade unions. Davidow discusses some of the implications of the Set of Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices adopted by the General Assembly, and the Code on theTransfer Of Technology currently being negotiated in UNCTAD

This issue is devoted exclusively to the United Nations Code of Conduct and to other codes of conduct pertaining to TNCs. The issue begins with the full text of the Code of Conduct and a synopsis of the instrument itself. These materials are followed by reflections by persons from developed, developing and socialist countries who had participated in formulating the draft Code of Conduct, and by the views of representatives of the trade union movement and the business community. The issue also includes articles on the ILO Tripartite Declaration, the UNCTAD instruments on restrictive business practices and transfer of technology, the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes, the discussions on the formulation of international standards of accounting and reporting, and the efforts to adopt an agreement on illicit payments.

This issue places particular emphasis on the coverage of the materials to be presented to the Commission on Transnational Corporations at its as its eight session Articles on this subject describe the current research, information and technical cooperation activities of the UNCTC, and summarize the official reports before the Commission's session. This material is supplemented by articles from the Joint Units and a review of the activities of the World Bank regarding foreign direct investment. In the Forum section, Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, reviews reactions to the report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues two years after its publication, and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Western Asia, M.S, Al-Attar discusses transnational corporations in Western Asia.

This issue of the CTC Reporter gives particular attention to the eighth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations and to the work of the United Nations on standards of accounting and reporting. It also continues its usual coverage of work undertaken in UNCTC and elsewhere related to TNCs, notably in ILO, OECD and the European Community. Finally, this issue features interviews with Klaus Sahlgren and Sidney Dell in which the work of the United Nations in the area of TNCs, the role of TNCs in the world economy and the further evolution of the Commission and the Centre on Transnational Corporations are discussed.

This issue focuses on some of the subjects which were to be discussed at the ninth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. Of these, The Third Survey of Transnational Corporations in World Development was to be the basis of a broad debate in the Commission. It also reviews developments during the special session of the Commission on the United Nations Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations. It features interviews with Hans Koening, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce and Jean Vanderveken, Secretary General of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

This issue reports on the ninth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations, including a review of the highlights of the session and the actions and decisions taken. The review of the ongoing activities in UNCTC gives particular attention to the Code of Conduct and includes an article by A.A. Fatouros on the status of the work on the Code. The conclusions of an interregional seminar on the impact on transnational corporations on primary commodity exports form developing countries are also summarized in this issue. Attention is also given to the research programme and selected projects of UNCTC's advisory and information services. Regarding about TNC-related activites outside the UNCTC, the issue features articles about some aspects of the work of UNCTAD. OECD, the European Parliament, the European Communities (i.e. the Vredeling proposal), and the trade/union movement. This issue also features interviews with Rymond Vernon and Fernando Fajnzylber. Finally, the views of V.D. Shchetinin on alternatives to TNCs, and of N.T. Wang on the role of TNCs in China's modernization are presented.

This issue contains summaries of papers dealing with two major issues before the tenth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations, namely, the role of TNCs in the implementation of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade and the UNCTC report Transnational Corporations in World Development: Third Survey. This issue also contains a brief review of the status with of the negotiations on the Code of Conduct at the time. There are also articles dealing with TNCs and the transfer of technology, the socio-cultural impact of TNCs, investment statistics, transborder data flows and South Africa.

This issue reports on the tenth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations, summarising its highlights and reproducing the texts of the decisions and recommendations taken. Special attention is also given to the special session of the Commission on the Code of Conduct and to the review of the OECD Declaration and Decisions on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. In the case of the OECD review, various officials, including the Chairman of the Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, discuss the review’s principal results. The issue also features interviews with Gamani Corea, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, and Emile van Lennep, Secretary-General of the OECD, in which they discuss issues relating to transnational corporations and transnational banks. The lead article on research outlines the general direction of the Centre´s work. A new section was started in this issue on data on TNCs.

This issue contains articles summarizing some of the main papers prepared by UNCTC for the eleven session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. The topics treated include recent trends in foreign direct investment and related flows, activities on transborder data flows, and the Centre's work in helping developing countries to establish equitable relations with TNCs. The issue also contains articles summarizing two new technical papers, one on the role of TNCs in the transfer of technology to developing countries and the other on the impact of TNCs on the environment. In addition, this issue includes an assessment of the codes of conduct adopted by home countries concerning employment practices of TNCs in South Africa and a report on the public hearings on the activities of TNCs in South Africa and Namibia expected to be conducted during the year. The Forum is also devoted to this subject, as it contains two interviews on the role of foreign direct investment in South Africa. The United Nations view is presented by H.E. Major-General Joseph N. Garba, Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid. The TNC view is represented by F. James McDonald, President of General Motors. Also included is the text of the Sullivan principles, as amplified in November 1984.

This issue highlights developments during the eleventh session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations and during the reconvened special session of the Commission to consider outstanding issues on the Code of Conduct . The main article in the first section discusses the Commission's accomplishments during its first 10 years of existence and the tasks still ahead. The section on the Code includes a statement by the Expert Advisers to the Commission aimed to help resolve the outstanding issues. With respect to the Centre's work, two articles reflect some of the conclusions of a major research effort on recent trends and issues in foreign direct investment. Other articles cover a wide variety of topics reflecting the diversity of the Centre's mandate and interests. There are also a number of articles describing work on TNCs done elsewhere. Prominent among these articles are those by Guisinger and Farrell, who take opposite positions on the issue of the impact of investment incentives on foreign investment decisions

This issue highlights the outcome of the public hearing on TNCs in South Africa and Namibia conducted at the United Nations headquarters in September 1985. It contains the report and recommendations of the panel of eminent persons that conducted the hearings. The issue also reports in detail on the evolution of the negotiations on the Code of Conduct on TNCs at the January 1986 reconvened special session of the Commission. Besides reporting on the progress achieved, the article on this subject offers some suggestions as to how the negotiations could be advanced. Regarding the Centre's research, two articles reflect on the impact of TNCs activities on world macro-economic developments and on the effects of the latter on TNC strategies and decision-making. On the advisory and technical cooperation services one article is devoted to the kind of services provided by UNCTC to developing countries in the context of negotiation with TNCs in the mining and petroleum sectors. Another article presents three concrete cases in which the services of UNCTC were called upon by developing countries. The issue also includes a special section on TNCs in Africa, with emphasis on the role that TNCs could play in overcoming the region's crisis. In addition to two interviews in the Forum section, a viewpoint by Professor Raymond Vernon offers some reflections on a somewhat neglected dimension, namely the role of ethical concerns in TNC decision-making. Finally, the section dedicated to work elsewhere highlights an important new issue: the rise to prominence of TNCs in services and its implications for development.

This issue's leading article highlights developments during the twelfth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. The section on the Code of Conduct on TNCs contains first the general reflections adopted by a high level roundtable in Montreux. This text is followed by a discussion of the relevance of the Code to the international negotiations on services. The issue of a reference in the Code to international law or international obligations is reviewed on the basis of three of the Centre's recent publications. Articles on the work of the Centre's on policy analysis and research discuss issues related to the measurement of, and trends in, FDI. Examined also is the impact of the Report and Recommendations of the Panel of Eminent Persons on the growing movement to impose sanctions on South Africa. Articles contributed from outside the Centre discuss a variety of TNC-related topics, including TNCs and deep-sea mining, the role of transnational banks in the debt crisis, and the relationship between the newly-related MIGA and the Code of Conduct on TNCs. The viewpoint is by Louis T. Wells, who addresses the impact of host country incentives on FDI decisions.

This issue features articles summarizing the findings and policy conclusions of the substantive reports prepared by the UNCTC for the thirteenth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. The subjects addressed include changes in the pattern of FDI in the world economy, the role of transnational banks, TNCs in services, lessons learned from the Centre's technical assistance programme and the information needs of developing countries relating to TNCs. The Forum in this issue is devoted to debt-equity swaps and their impact.

The lead article in this issue of the CTC Reporter presents highlights of the thirteenth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations . Articles on the work of the UNCTC on policy analysis and research discuss recent work on international accounting and reporting by TNCs and data on the transnational activities of enterprises based in socialists countries. The issue includes an interview with Elliot L. Richardson discussing a roundtable on FDI in China organized by the UNCTC. A section on the Code of Conduct presents material from a hearing on the Code held by the United States House of Representatives. An additional articles in this section summarizes a discussion on the Code at the World Congress of the International Association of Consumers Union. The section dedicated to work elsewhere discuss the status of the Code of Conduct on the Transfer of Technology and the Code on restrictive business practices. Additional articles describe some of the financial innovations undertaken by TNCs operating in debtor developing countries, analyse Argentina's experience with informatics policy and the experience of foreign-owned enterprises in Poland, and discuss the evidence on the importance of TNCs in foreign trade in the United States and Sweden.

This issue of the CTC Reporter focuses on the outcome of the fourteenth session of the Commission on Transnational Corporations. Regarding activities of UNCTC, the issue highlights the Seminar on Services held in Lima, including an article analysing the issues discussed. Two other seminars held in ASEAN (on services) and in the USSR (on joint ventures) are also reported, as well as the launching of the EMPRETEC Programme in Argentina. The section dedicated to the legal framework on TNCs reports on the launching of MIGA, and includes articles on the ILO Tripartite Declaration ten years after its adoption, on the Code of Conduct on TNCs and its relationship to international law, on the experience with the OECD Guidelines' clarifications, and on joint ventures in Poland.

This issue of the CTC Reporter highlights the findings on selected topics contained in Transnational Corporations in World Development: Trends and Prospects, published by UNCTC. The selections included address four broad themes: a description and explanation of the emerging trends in transnationalization; an assessment of the contribution of TNCs to developing countries; the evolution of a national and international policy framework relating to TNCs; and a sketch of the path TNCs are likely to traverse during the 1990s.

This issue of the CTC Reporter focuses special attention on the role of TNCs in Africa's development, with several articles examining opportunities and impediments. The section on FDI trends and impact looks, among other subjects, at the impact of the creation of a European Common Market, expected for 1992, on FDI flows. In addition, several articles in this issue discuss transnational banks and their role in the debt crisis. The Mid-term review of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations also reviewed. The section on international cooperation includes an article by Senator William Proxmire on international cooperation against bribery, a report on the progress on the Code of Conduct and a statement by the International Chamber of Commerce adopted at the Istanbul Congress on related issues.

This issue of the CTC Reporter focuses on the outcome of the second Public Hearings on Transnational Corporations in South Africa and Namibia held in Geneva form 4 to 6 September 1989. The section begins with an overview of the Hearings by the Nobel laureate and member of the Panel, Wole Soyinka, and continues with a communiqué issued by the Panel and extracts from submissions at the hearings. Two opposing views on TNCs and sanctions are presented as are the views of he international and South African business communities and those of South Africa labour groups. They are followed by extracts front he panel report and its recommendations. Another part of the issue is dedicated to investment in socialists countries focusing special attention to free economic zones and joint ventures in these countries.

This issue of the CTC Reporter includes a large section on the Code of Conduct on TNCs which includes articles by John Kline on "a new environment for the Code", by Arghyrios Fatouros on "the Code and the Uruguay Round of negotiations on trade in services", by Seymour Rubin on corporations, conduct and codes: investment and trade in the Uruguay Round, and by Victoria Aranda on "Notes from Peace Palace", as well as a report on the outcome of the Hague Symposium on the outstanding issues in the Code. The issue also features the reflections by Pieter Wessel on the outcome of the ISAR Group's seventh session regarding accounting and reporting by TNCs. Roland Brown discusses the issue of contract stability ain international petroleum operations. The section on TNCs in the world economy contains various articles on FDI trends and TNC-related issues.