RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/168
9 August 2001
(01-3963)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES RELATED
TO THE TBT AGREEMENT AND ITS SECOND TRIENNIAL REVIEW
Communication from UNIDO
I. INTRODUCTION1. In its capacity as observer to the TBT Committee, the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO) updated the Committee on relevant technical assistance activities in
accreditation, certification, standardization and metrology at its twenty-fourth meeting held on
30 March 2001.
2. Further hereto, the present document summarizes UNIDO’s approach and the current and
planned technical and financial assistance UNIDO provides to developing countries to facilitate the
implementation and operation of the TBT Agreement, according to the elements considered under the
Second Triennial Review (G/TBT/9).
3. UNIDO is a specialized agency of the United Nations system, which supports developing
countries and economies in transition in their efforts to strengthen industrial capacities and sustainable
industrial development and thus to relieve poverty by fostering productivity growth.
4. To this end, UNIDO technical cooperation services have the following objective: to assist
countries in the strategic positioning of industr y within their development strategies; to build
capacities in industry support institutions to delive r services to industry (particularly small- and
medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), with special attention given to agro-industry);  and to implement
global mandates, such as those related to the follow-up of United Nations conferences on globalissues and to the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols.
5. As part of this integrated package of functiona l and sectoral support services to industry, the
organization offers comprehensive technical assistance (TC) services in the area of quality,
standardization and metrology. The TC portfolio in this area amounts currently to around
USD 50 million.
6. The demand for UNIDO’s services has continuously increased over the last years in response
to the global context and countries’ requirements for quality and TBT-related technical assistance.
II. UNIDO SERVICES IN STANDARDIZATION, CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT,
METROLOGY AND TBT-RELATED MATTERS
A. C
ONTEXT
7. Due to increasing globalization and liberalization, international economic exchanges have
grown exponentially over the recent years and have become a major source of economic growth and
social development.  Enterprises in developing countries are more and more excluded from the new
production and trade patterns.  This is linked to many structural impediments and supply-sideG/TBT/W/168
Page 2
obstacles the countries are facing in achieving productive efficiency and competitiveness.  Industrial
enterprises are increasingly aware of the need to improve product quality and productivity, however,
they typically do not have the knowledge and skills to develop and implement appropriate quality
management system solutions.  The lack of productive capacity quality and productivity
infrastructure, services and related skills prevents the enterprises from accessing global markets and tointegrate into international production and supply chains.
8. But even where productive capacity is established, there are problems with accessing markets,
as products have to comply with a myriad of tech nical standards, health and safety requirements set
by the importing markets.  The TBT Agreement seeks to regulate that technical regulations and
standards do not create unnecessary barriers to trade, but this requires that countries in a position to
fully participate in the standard-setting processes,  while having a full-fledged infrastructure and
systems for certification, accreditation, metrology, a nd technical support and information services for
industry.
9. Developing countries also need to assist their industries and government institutions
concerned to overcome or eliminate unnecessary technical barriers to trade caused by disparities in
standards, metrology and conformity assessment practices between different trading partners.  This
requires mutually developed and recognized systems of metrology, standardization, testing andquality (MSTQ), which enhance market transparency for manufacturers and purchasers and perform
important protective functions for consumers and employees.  MSTQ techniques and methodologies
could also be used for the establishment of an internationally recognized measuring and monitoring
system to qualify and quantify mineral and agricultural exports before they are shipped to ensure
revenues and preserve the natural resource base.
B. UNIDO’
S TBT- RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES
10. The development of a national quality system or a national conformity assessment system
may be classified into three different stages, thus reflecting the respective level of existing available
infrastructure, capacities and priorities:
• Little or no national quality infrastructure and legal frameworks in place;
• Limited infrastructure exists;
• Reasonably good infrastructure and capacities requiring specialized support in
focused areas.
C. UNIDO SERVICES APPLIED IN RESPONSE TO THE RESPECTIVE GROUPING (I.E. THE
REQUIREMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT STATUS OF THE COUNTRY )
1. Strengthening the legal and regulatory framework
• Assist governments with the development of a quality and productivity policy by
assessing the existing policy framework and advising in the establishment ofincentive and support programmes, such as quality awards.
• Assist governments to develop and harmonize the legal and regulatory framework
relating to quality, standardization and metrology for better protection of consumerhealth and safety, of the environment and to act against fraud by assessing the
existing framework and providing advice on necessary adjustments.G/TBT/W/168
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2. Standardization and conformity assessment
• Establish or strengthen the capacity of existing standardization bodies by providing
training, setting-up sub-sectoral technical committees, assist with the design and
implementation of awareness programmes to promote the adoption of standards at
national and regional level, and assist participation in regional and international
standards setting fora and networks.
• Establish or strengthen the capacity of accreditation bodies for the purpose of being
recognized by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) or the International
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILA C) by conducting pre-evaluations and
assisting in networking and partnership arrangements with other national/regional
institutions.
• Establish or strengthen laboratory capacities for sampling, inspection, material and
product testing including microbiological and chemical analysis, by specifying testing
and equipment requirements.  Provide technical support for the harmonization of
testing procedures, training of staff through twinning arrangements, as well as
assistance in networking, partnership and agreements for conformity assessment.
3. Metrology (measurement)
• Establish or strengthen laboratory capacities for industrial and legal metrology by
identifying calibration, verification and equipment requirements, assisting in thephysical set-up and start-up of laboratories; upgrading of measurement equipment
according to international standards; training of technicians and assistance in
networking, inter-comparisons, mutual recognition arrangements and accreditation.
• Implement UNIDO software Measurement and Control-Chart Toolkit (MCCT) to
meet the requirements related to metrological control of the ISO 9000:2000standards.
4. Quality management and productivity improvement
11. The UNIDO Quality Approach enables the enterp rises to enter into self-sustained and
continuous improvements without the need for continued assistance by:
• Building institutional and human capacity at the level of Governments and
Institutions for implementing quality management methodologies and systems
(TQM, ISO 9000:2000, 6-Sigma, SPC, etc.) through practical demonstration in
groups of pilot-enterprises for improving their quality and productivity.
• Promoting productivity by establishing Regional and National Quality and
Productivity Centers. The centers act as one-stop-shop for productivity and qualityimprovements in manufacturing sector and associated institutions, by fostering
production management upgrading at the level of enterprises, industrial sectors,
supply chains, technology institutes and policy-related government bodies.
Furthermore, through process and competitiveness benchmarking services, the Centerwill be able to help identifying, adapt and promote best manufacturing practices.
• Improving capability to monitor and increase business performance through the
implementation of UNIDO Business Excellence Software packages:  Pharos(Business Navigator) suitable for SMEs, BEST (Business Environment StrategicG/TBT/W/168
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Toolkit) and FIT (Financial Improvement Toolkit) and MCCT (Measurement Control
Chart Toolkit) for monitoring calibration of equipment and carry out simple
Statistical Process Control.
5. Industrial Restructuring and Upgrading
• Build capacities in public and private sector institutions to develop national industrial
upgrading and restructuring policies, support mechanisms including financingschemes, restructuring and upgrading programmes.
• Develop national consulting capability to address the restructuring and upgrading
needs.
6. Global forum functions
• Foster linkages and cooperation among regional and international organizations such
as ISO, WTO, ILAC, IAF, PTB, OIML and regional and international standardization
and accreditation bodies in order to facilitate networking, promotion of mutual
recognition of certificates and harmonization of standards.
• Monitor global trends in standardization, conformity assessment, metrology and
testing in order to promote awareness and strengthen the trade capacity of developing
countries through applied research and benchmarking studies, training andparticipation in international conferences.
• Carrying out and dissemination of benchmarking analyses to identify best practices of
standardization bodies and laboratories.
• Develop and improve business excellence tools such as the business environment
strategic toolkit (BEST), the financial improvement toolkit (FIT) and the business
performance navigator (PHAROS), and prin ted material for upgrading of business
performance such as the manual on diagnostic for restructuring and upgrading
through applied research and benchmarking studies in quality management, industry
modernization and productivity.
D. P
RINCIPLES
12. Technical cooperation services are designed and implemented to comply  with UNIDO quality
criteria, based on the following principles:
• Relevance   Services will meet mutually identified development constraints that
UNIDO clients have in meeting the developmental requirements of their target
groups;
• Demand-orientation   Programmes are based on comprehensive needs assessment and
the full involvement of recipients in the programming exercise.
• Local ownership   Recipients of UNIDO services have clearly expressed their
requirements and are ready to use UNIDO services to overcome their constraints;
• Effectiveness/efficiency   UNIDO and its clients have analyzed the least-cost
approach to fully solve their development constraints;G/TBT/W/168
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• Sustainability impact   The design and implementation of services ensure sustained
benefits for the client and significant improvements at the level of the target group.
13. UNIDO provides services within the coordination mechanism of the United Nations system
(the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), Common Country Assessment
(CCA)), and complements bilateral and multilateral development cooperation programmes so as toproduce synergy and enhance the impact of the entire development effort of a specific country.
E. M
ETHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
14. The following tools and modalities are applied to deliver technical assistance in these fields:
• Awareness campaigns   Seminars and workshops to raise awareness on a given
subject.
• Short- and long-term missions   International experts transfer technical and/or
managerial knowledge to national experts to establish or upgrade parts of the nationalquality infrastructure.
• Study tours  . Promotion of the participation of national experts in regional or
international meetings, seminars, workshops, conferences, etc.  as well as in training
programmes in another country.
• On-the-job training   Practical training programmes in-situ offered by international
experts in the home country to transfer technical and/or managerial knowledge to
national experts.
• Seminars and workshops   Training programmes addressed to different target groups
to transfer specific knowledge on national quality infrastructure, national qualitypolicy, technical regulations, standards, accreditation, certification, inspection,
metrology, quality promotion and requirements of the TBT Agreement.
• Train the Trainers   International experts train national experts to build local capacity
and human resources available in the country, thus addressing sustainability issues.
• Twinning arrangements   Transfer of knowledge through exchange of experts and
study tours between two countries / regions.
• Pre-Peer Evaluations   Evaluation of accreditation bodies through experts from
different countries to increase mutual confidence and enable developing countries tojoin international Mutual Recognition Arrangements.
• Capacity building   Establishment or upgrading of infrastructure in standardization
bodies, metrology institutes, calibration and sector-specific testing facilities,
inspection and accreditation bodies, enquiry points, as well as quality, productivityand competitiveness centers, etc.
III. CURRENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES
15. UNIDO supports technical assistance progra mmes at country and regional levels in
standardization, conformity assessment, metrology and TBT-related matters.G/TBT/W/168
Page 6
16. At the country level, the main vehicle for the provision of technical assistance is Integrated
Country Programmes that provide comprehensive and multi-disciplinary packages of services in
response to local support requirements, and the particular structural and capacity constraints in the
industry.  For example, a programme may include services in the field of industrial supply-side
policy, investment and technology promotion, SME development, upgrading of agro-industries, and
cleaner production. Most integrated programmes include standardization, conformity assessment,
metrology or TBT-related issues as a priority component requested by the recipient government.
17. The joint initiative by the European Union (EU), UNIDO and the Western African Monetary
and Economic Union (UEMOA) in accreditation, standardization and quality promotion aims at
facilitating trade and reducing poverty in Africa, and is about to get started in the next months.
18. The project “Application of Quality Principles to the Food Processing Sector in selected
Sub-Saharan Countries” addresses competitiveness and performance of food industries in Kenya,Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as the need to reduce microbiological, chemical
and physical hazards from the food processing activities and the dissemination of food safety
awareness.  In 1999 the project had gained a more  crucial importance since the EU had banned the
import of fish products if producers were not implementing required quality control systems.
Therefore, the project has focused on the food quality and safety issues in view of the tremendousnegative impact on exports for the covered countries and the ban has already been lifted in Uganda
and in Tanzania.
19. Currently, four additional regional initiatives are under preparation:
• Joint initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNIDO and
the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization (AIDMO)  in
strengthening the international competitiveness of selected Arab countries in globaltrade through enhancing their quality assurance policies and institutions.  The needs
assessment is under review.
• UNIDO initiative in strengthening the SADC regional structure  in standardization,
quality assurance, accreditation and metrology (SQAM) aims at establishing the
necessary facilities and capabilities regionally to implement the SADC Protocol onTrade and at meeting the requirements of the WTO TBT agreement. The needs
assessment will be carried out in the forthcoming weeks.
• UNIDO trade facilitation initiative for LDCs  This initiative is based on a
comprehensive approach to trade facilitation at the sub-regional level.  
 It addresses in
particular the upgrading of quality and standardization infrastructures, theestablishment or strengthening of national and regional systems for accreditation,
product certification and conformity assessment, the harmonization of legal and
regulatory frameworks, as well as the promotion of quality principles and systems
management (ISO 9000, ISO 14000, HACCP) at enterprise level.  The programme
will also facilitate access to information on technical regulations and client market
standards through IT networking and access to international databases as well as
establishment of enquiry points.  The initiative will focus on main exportcommodities, such as food, textile and leather as well as information networks.  The
needs assessment will be carried out in the second half 2001.
• UNIDO trade facilitation initiative in capacity building for market access in Central
America   The objective of this regional programme is to identify technical barriers to
trade currently faced  by Central American agro-industrial exports in third markets
and to come up with a capacity building programme that will help to improve the
production capacity in these sectors, while upgrading the respective standardizationG/TBT/W/168
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infrastructure and system for product certification.  Through this dual approach at
both the industry and institutional level, the programme will demonstrate practical
solutions as to how to unlock export market opportunities hitherto blocked by
technical barriers.   The preparatory assessment phase will be carried out in the second
half 2001.  The programme is expected to be replicated in other regions.
20. In addition, the following global programmes are being implemented:
• The joint UNIDO, ISO and International Accreditation Forum (IAF) Pre-Peer
Evaluation Programme aims at providing accreditation bodies in developing
countries and countries in transition with an opportunity to participate in international
and regional mutual recognition agreements (MLAs) in the field of certification
according to ISO 9000.  The programme has been implemented in four countries and
evaluation in three countries will be carried out in 2001.
• The joint UNIDO, ISO and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation
(ILAC) Pre-Peer Evaluation Programme  was recently initiated to provide the
accreditation bodies in developing countries and countries in transition with an
opportunity to participate in international and regional mutual recognition agreements
(MRAs) in the field of accreditation of calibration and testing laboratories as well asinspection bodies.  Three Pre-Peer Evaluations will be carried out in 2001 under this
programme.
• The joint programme between UNIDO, the international organization of Legal
Metrology (OIML) and the German Institute for Physics and Metrology (PTB)   I n
particular the programme will focus on the enhancement of measurement systemsfacilitating trade of commodities and natural resources and is therefore linked to the
abovementioned LDC initiative.
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