RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/10/Add.3
11September 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-2562)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM OTHER
INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Addendum
International Monetary Fund
Atitsmeeting of24May 1995, theCouncil forTRIPS agreed torequest certain
intergovernmental organizations toprovide information ontheirtechnical andfinancial cooperation
programmes intheareaofintellectual property relevant totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement
(IP/C/M/2, paragraph 53).
Thisaddendum reproduces theinformation which hasbeenreceived from theInternational
Monetary Fund inresponse tothisrequest.
Intheaccompanyingletter,dated16August1995,bywhichtheinformationwascommunicated,
itispointed outthatvarious aspects oftheFund'stechnical assistance canbethought tobetrade-related,
butthatitisdifficult toidentify specific involvement intrade matters, thisallthemore being thecase
forTRIPS.IP/C/W/10/Add.3
Page2
International Monetary Fund
Trade Policy-Related Technical Assistance
TheFund hasprovided itsmember countries withtechnical assistance andtraining ineconomic
andfinancial matters almost since itsinception. Although interlinked, theFund'stechnical assistance
canbegrouped intofivebroad categories:
(i) toadvise onthedesign andimplementation ofpolicy measures;
(ii) tosupport institution building;
(iii) toimprove thequality andtimeliness ofstatistical information;
(iv) totrainofficials; and
(v) toreview andhelpdraftlegislation.
Thiscantakemany forms, ranging fromyearly Article IVconsultations andthedesign ofstabilization
andstructural adjustment programmes tosetting upatax-payer identification system. Astechnical
assistance isanintegral partofFund policy dialogue withitsmember countries, itsscope intheFund
goesfarbeyond tasks specifically indicated under thisheading.
Technical assistance canbeprovided byFund staffonmissions orbyFund staffandoutside
experts onspecific technical assistance missions inresponse tospecific requests bymembers, orby
courses attheIMFInstitute. Itcanvaryfrom amission ofafewdaystoayearortwosecondment
toaministry. Assistance mayrelate toawhole range ofsubjects, including economic policy, balance-of-
payments adjustments programmes, tax,government expenditure andbudgetary policies, legalmatters,
debtmanagement, exchange andtrade issues, financial sector topics, accounting, statistics anddata
processing. Since 1990 specific technical assistance activities haverisen by75percent, from 170
person-years in1990toanestimated 299in1994/95 (seetable).Support fortheassistance hascome
fromtheFund'sownresources andfromdonors. TheFund hasalsorecently established aFramework
Account fortechnical assistance tohandle donor funds forthispurpose.
Themainareas oftheFund'sspecific technical assistance1areclose toitsmandate asguardian
oftheworld 'smonetary system. Most activities havebeenrelated tomonetary andexchange rateissues
(130), fiscal policies (98),macro-economic statistics (41),training courses inmacro-economics (15),
legalissues related mainly tomonetary andfiscal policies (9)orcomputer services related tocentral
bank orfiscal management (7).There isnospecific programme ontrade policy-related technical
assistance. Trade policy issues can,however, bepartofeither thegeneral policy dialogue inFund
programmes2orconsultations, orcancome up,forexample, inthecontext offiscal issues inareas
suchastaxpolicy, customs management orrationalization ofsubsidies. Awareness among Fund staff
ofUruguay Round-related policy commitments ofitsmembers hasbeenincreased sincetheconclusion
oftheUruguay Round. Theimplications oftheUruguay Round arealsofrequently discussed inthe
general policy dialogue withmembers.
1Estimated person-years 1994/95 areinbrackets.
2Trade policies were partofconditionality inabout halfofthe59programmes studied recently bytheFund.IP/C/W/10/Add.3
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Technical Assistance Delivery
(inperson-years)
1992/93
Actual1993/94
Actual1994/95
Estimate
Fund technical assistance budget 188.8 194.0 217.3
Staff 90.0 100.9 109.8
Headquarters-based consultants 21.2 20.5 22.6
Experts 77.6 72.6 84.9
External technical assistance resources 55.0 68.6 81.9
UNDP 28.9 19.3 17.5
Japan 20.3 40.1 52.0
Other 5.8 9.2 12.4
Total technical assistance resources 243.8 262.6 299.2
Total resources provided, bydepartment
Monetary andExchange Affairs Department 96.8 105.7 130.3
Fiscal Affairs Department 82.5 94.8 97.5
Statistics Department 40.5 35.5 40.8
IMFInstitute 11.2 13.0 14.8
Legal Department 7.7 7.5 9.0
Other 5.0 6.0 6.6
Total regional usebydepartment 242.9 243.3 273.7
African 71.0 63.8 61.9
Central Asia 24.6 25.6 26.3
European I 24.3 24.6 27.4
European II 60.2 65.9 77.2
Middle Eastern 10.6 11.5 18.9
South EastAsiaandpacific 17.8 15.6 24.8
Western Hemisphere 34.4 30.9 29.0
Fund (interregional) -- 5.4 5.6
Unallocated reserves -- -- 2.6
Non-regional use 0.9 19.3 25.5
Total technical assistance resources 243.8 262.6 299.2