RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/COMTD/W/29 /Rev.1
17October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4551)
Committee onTrade andDevelopment
WTO TECHNICAL COOPERATION
Implementation Modalities
Revision
TheGuidelines forWTO Technical Cooperation, adopted bytheCommittee onTrade and
Development on15October 1996, envisage theCommittee establishing implementation modalities
tobeobserved bytheSecretariat initsadministration oftechnical cooperation activities, andbythe
Committee initsreview ofthese activities.
ThisnotebytheSecretariathasbeenpreparedinresponsetotheCommittee'srequest.Itattempts
tocapture elements initsnon-paper of3February 1997, theinformal notebytheSwiss delegation
circulated on12May1997, andvarious comments made bydelegations at,orsubsequent to,the
Committee 'smeeting on20Mayand26September 1997.
IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES
WTO technical assistance should beprovided soastoensure theattainment oftheobjectives
andprinciples stated intheGuidelines forWTO Technical Cooperation, andincompliance withthe
operational directives therein, within thescope ofthehuman andfinancial resources made available
byMembers.
Thefollowing implementation modalities havebeendrawn upalsowithaviewtoenable the
secretariat todeliver technical cooperation inaflexible, timely andpertinent manner, andtoadjust
itwhen necessary tosuitthespecific needs ofrecipient countries. They maybereviewed atan
appropriatetime,inthelightofnewexperiencesanddevelopmentsintrade-relatedtechnicalcooperation.
1. Modes ofDelivery
Inresponding torequests forassistance, theSecretariat would drawupaprogramme ofactivities
tailored tothespecific needs oftherequesting beneficiary. Programmes would make useofoneor
several ofthefollowing instruments:
(i) General Seminars forexplanation anddissemination ofinformation ontheWTO;
(ii) Seminars andworkshops todealin-depth withspecific issues;
(iii) Technical Missions;
(iv) Training courses;
(v) Practical training programmes forselected officials withspecific responsibilities;WT/COMTD/W/29/Rev.1
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(vi) Information technology-based training material;
(vii) Supply ofdataontrade andtariffs andother documentation ontheWTO;
(viii) WTO participation intechnical assistance andtraining activities organized byregional
andother international institutions.
2. Long-Term Engagement
(a) Itisrecognised thatthedelivery oftechnical cooperation would begreatly enhanced
ifrecipient countries weretodesignate anofficial/office inagovernment ministry to
bethecentral focal point fortechnical cooperation activities withtheWTO, and
preferably foralltrade-related technical assistance provided byother institutions.
(b) TheWTO willapply objective qualification criteria when selecting candidates to
participate inWTO technical cooperation andtraining programmes.
(c) Governments willassist intheselection ofofficials tobetrained aslocaltrainers, and
willprovide information ontechnical cooperation activities andexpertise available in
thecountry oratthesub-regional/regional level, asthecasemaybe.TheWTO may
assist indeveloping anetwork oflocaltrainers.
(d) National experts andofficials whohavereceived WTO training shall, totheextent
possible, beusedfortechnical cooperation activities attheregional andsub-regional
levels.
3. Coordination withOther International Institutions
(a) Close coordination shallbeestablished, whenever feasible andappropriate, withother
international organizations, suchastheInternational Trade Centre (ITC), UNCTAD
andtheWorld Bank.
(b) Where other international institutions, such astheWorld Intellectual Property
Organization, theWorld Customs Organization, andtheFood andAgriculture
Organization, havealready established contacts withoperational divisions oftheWTO
Secretariat inrelation totheir trade-related technical cooperation activities, these
activities would beplaced within theoverall framework ofestablished programmes
oftheWTO, where suchexist.
(c) Forpurposesofcoordinationandadministration,theTechnicalCooperationandTraining
Division isthecentral focal point intheWTO Secretariat forinteraction with
international, regional andsub-regional institutions, aswellaswithdonor andrecipient
governments inthecontext ofbilateral programmes, andshall, within theareas of
competence andexpertise oftheWTO, participate ininter-agency programmes.WT/COMTD/W/29/Rev.1
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4. Management andFunding
4.1 Management
(a) TheTechnical Cooperation andTraining Division shall, inclose collaboration with
otheroperational Divisions oftheSecretariat, coordinate theorganization andexecution
oftheSecretariat 'sresponse torequests fortechnical cooperation.
(b) Requests fortechnical cooperation activities shallbecommunicated totheTechnical
Cooperation andTraining Division, explaining theproblem tobeaddressed andthe
needfortechnical assistance inthisregard, thepreferred modes ofdelivery. Ifpossible
therequest should include anindication astowhether, andtowhatextent, thecountry
concerned canparticipate incost-sharing oftheactivities requested. Ifarequest does
notfallwithin theWTO 'sdomain ofcompetence andexpertise, applicants would be
directed totheinstitution bestequipped tomeetthose needs.
(c) Based onthespecific requests fortechnical cooperation activities aswellason
indicationsofvoluntarycontributions,whichshallalsobecommunicatedtotheTechnical
Cooperation andTraining Division, theDivision shall prepare aThree-Year Plan,
comprising activities consistent withthepriorities andobjectives referred tointhe
Guidelines. TheThree-Year Planshallbecirculated totheCommittee onTrade and
Development foritsapproval, atleasttwoweeks inadvance ofitslastmeeting ofthe
year.
(d) Forthefirstyear, theThree-Year Planshallindicate forevery proposed activity (i)a
description oftheactivity withthemodes ofdelivery tobeused; (ii)theorganizing
entity; (iii)theproposed source offunding and(iv)theexecuting unitandhuman
resource utilisation. Forthesecond andthird years, thePlanshallbeofageneral
andindicative nature, outlining priorities forthefuture.
(e) Unforeseen requests andrequests ofanurgent nature shallbeaccommodated tothe
extent possible, bearing inmind theregular programme.
(f) Itisalsounderstood thatsince anumber ofactors areinvolved inmost technical
cooperation activities, theirinteraction isanimportant factor inthefixing ofexactdates,
coverage, participation anddocumentation fortheparticular events. Some amount
offlexibility isalsoneeded inorder toallow forfactors suchastheconvenience of
thehostgovernment.
(g) TheSecretariat shallliaise with, andreport ontechnical cooperation activities to,the
Committee inaccordance withtheGuidelines.
4.2 Funding
(a) WTO technical cooperation activities shallbefinanced bytheregular budget ofthe
WTO within thelimits specifically designated byMembers, byvoluntary contributions
totheWTO Trust Fund forTechnical Cooperation, bycontributions frominternational
financial institutions, orthrough international ornational cost-sharing.
(b) TheTrust Fund shallbemanaged bytheTechnical Cooperation andTraining Division
inaccordance withtheprovisions oftheGuidelines.WT/COMTD/W/29/Rev.1
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(c) Contributions totheTrust Fund maybenon-earmarked orearmarked forparticular
activities bythedonors. Donors shalladdress theiroffers totheTechnical Cooperation
andTraining Division, indicating theamount oftheircontribution andwhether their
contribution isearmarked ornon-earmarked.
5. Monitoring, Evaluation andFollow-up
(a) Toensure theeffectiveness oftechnical cooperation activities administered bythe
Secretariatandtheoptimumuseofresources,theCommitteeonTradeandDevelopment
shallundertake annual andifnecessary more frequent reviews, onthebasisofreports
provided bytheWTO Secretariat. Inthiscontext, theCommittee onTrade and
Development shall consider, attheappropriate time(sayevery three years), the
possibility ofcommissioning anexternal evaluation oftheWTO Secretariat 'stechnical
cooperation activities, based ontheGuidelines forTechnical Cooperation. Such an
evaluation should follow internationally recognized methodologies.
(b) Appropriate follow-up activities maybeestablished withaview toensuring the
effectiveness oftechnical cooperation andtraining activities. These caninclude training
oftrainers programmes, theuseofinternet andinteractive technology (CD- Rom) for
self-training, follow upcourses, seminars, workshops (national/regional), making
available localtechnical expertise andadvice.