G/TFA/W/ 77 
 
1 April  2022 
(22-2662) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Trade Facilitation  Original: English  
 
 
DRAFT  
 
FRAMEWORK FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION OF THE  
TRADE FACILITATION AGREEMENT FACILITY  
 
Noting  that the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (hereafter "the Facility") which was launched 
on 22 July 2014 was created at the request of the African LDC and ACP groups to address inter alia 
concerns pertaining to the adequacy and accessibility of donor support to fully implement the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement (hereafter "the Agreement") in order to reap the full benefits of such 
implementation;  
Recognizing that the work undertaken by the Facility has contributed to this goal through activities 
includi ng the development and delivery of technical assistance and capacity building on the 
Agreement, the enhancement of the flow of information between beneficiaries and donors and the 
establishment of the grant programme;  
Taking note  that the operational guide lines of the Facility under which the Facility has functioned 
were developed in 2015, prior to the entry into force of the Agreement and the establishment of the 
Trade Facilitation Committee (hereafter "the Committee");  
Desiring  that an update of the Faci lity's operational guidelines through the development of a new 
framework to take account of the evolution of the needs of Members as expressed through the 
Committee would be timely;  
The Committee decides  to establish the following framework for the manage ment and operation of 
the Facility:  
1. Objectives  
1. The role  of the Facility is to support the Committee's work in relation to assisting developing 
Members and LDCs in implementing the Agreement.  Guidance concerning the nature of such support 
will be provide d by the Committee . 
2. Operational Directives  
(a) Priorities  
2. To fulfil its role, the Facility will prioritize the following activities:  
(i) The Grant Programme  
(ii) Technical Assistance and Capacity Building:   
(iii) Engagement with Annex D and Development partners  
(iv) Maintain the TFAF website.  
3. These  priority activities will be conducted respecting the Paris Principles of Aid Effectiveness, 
namely ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing for results and mutual accountability.  
(b) Modes of Delivery  
(i) Grant Programme:  The Facility will administer a gran t program to which, when 
no other funding is available, a Member having notified Category C provisions G/TFA/W/ 77 
 
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  may apply.  The procedures of the grant programme are established in its 
Operational Rules1  
(ii) Technical Assistance and Capacity Building: The Facility wil l respond to requests 
from developing Members and LDC Members for technical assistance and capacity 
building on the Agreement which relate to the following outcomes: identifying 
implementation assistance, ratification of the Agreement, notifications under the 
Agreement, and strengthening the operation of National Trade Facilitation 
Committees.  Activities may be organized to address the needs of an individual 
Member, group of Members or a regional grouping.  
(iii) Engagement with Annex D and Development partners:  The Facility will maintain 
close contact with Annex D and Development partners so as to share information 
and allow for coordination and non -duplication of efforts on trade facilitation. The 
Facility may respond to requests from those organizations to part icipate in 
activities to further support these objectives.   
(iv) Maintain the Facility website: The Facility website underpins the three modes of 
delivery described above. In addition, the maintenance of up -to-date trade 
facilitation resources on the website en sures that it constitutes a comprehensive 
information sharing/exchange platform.  
(c) Relationship to the Operational Guidelines  
4. This Framework is intended to supplement the provisions of the 2015 Operational Guidelines. 
If there is any conflict or inconsistency between the two, the provisions of this Framework will apply.  
3.  Management and Transparency  
(a) Planning  
5. The Facility w orking jointly with a representative group composed of interested Members shall 
prepare a work plan for the upcoming calendar year.  
6. This work plan shall be drawn up based on inter alia the following:  
(i) Priorities identified by the Committee as conveyed d uring a formal meeting held 
before mid -year, under a specific agenda item entitled "The Facility Work Plan"; 
and 
(ii) Trade facilitation needs identified in the biennial ITTC survey of Members' 
technical assistance needs as well as needs identified in Cate gory C notifications.   
7. The work plan, accompanied by a draft budget based on the activities identified, shall be 
reviewed by the Committee during its dedicated session on assistance and capacity building. 
Requests for activities will be submitted throughou t the year, via the activity request form on the 
Facility website2 and shared with interested Members via the online tracker to enhance transparency.  
(b) Monitoring  
8. Activities undertaken by the Facility will be monitored using a log frame which will be up dated 
as required during the annual work planning phase.  
9. Each activity request will identify the targeted outcomes of the activity in the context of the 
annual work plan priorities, and reports evaluating these activities will be posted thus allowing for 
results -based management, ensuring transparency and contributing to avoiding duplication of 
efforts.  
10. Requests for grants will be submitted using the online expression of interest process, which 
may progress to a grant application which is then reviewed acc ording to the Operational Rules of 
the Grant Programme.  This process should help ensure transparency, non -duplication of activities 
and enhanced monitoring of the requested grant.  
 
1 https://www.tfafacility.org/assistance -grants/tfaf -grant -program  
2 https://wto.formstack.com/forms/tfaf_ta_virtual  G/TFA/W/7 7 
 
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  (c) Reporting  
11. The Facility shall provide the Committee with an annual report  by the end of June of the 
following year.  The report will be composed of two Sections.   
12. Section I will cover the following elements:  
(i) a presentation and assessment of achieved outputs and outcomes compared to 
their aims and presented in the context of the log -frame and work plan priorities;  
(ii) An estimation of impact; and  
(iii) An outline of risks identified prior to and during implementation of the Facility's 
activities since the last report and how these risks have been mitigated, as well 
as lessons -learned for the future;  
13. Section II will cover the following elements:  
(i) The financial report which will describe the use of funds in the Facility since the 
last report and be set up in accordance with WTO financial rules and regulations 
including, as ap propriate, any outcomes from the current discussions on trust 
funds in the context of the Budget Committee. The financial report will be based 
on the draft budget presented alongside the corresponding work plan, with 
additional expenditure related to the a ctivities approved by the request forms 
received throughout the year.   
14. The Facility shall also provide an update of its activities (either orally or in writing) to each 
regular formal meeting of the Committee.   
4. The Facility Secretariat  
15. The Facility Secretariat is housed within the WTO and its responsibilities comprise the delivery 
of the operational guidelines, as supplemented by this document.  
16. The Facility continues to be subject to the regular audit procedures of the WTO.  
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