G/TBT/GEN/172  
 
10 July 2014  
(14-3933) Page: 1/3  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE   
This document contains information provided by the ITC (International Trade Centre) at the TBT 
Committee meeting of 18-19 June 2014 under Agenda Item 5 (Update by Observers). 
 
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The International Trade Centre is continuing its efforts to assist small and medium-sized 
enterprises to meet technical requirements. An update of the projects of interest to the TBT Committee is provided herewith:  
1  ZIMBABWE: SUPPORT TO TRADE AND PRIV ATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT (2014-2016)   
1.1.  This project is financed by the Europe an Union (EU) and aims at supporting economic 
recovery, economic diversification and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe. The objective of this 
programme is to enhance the role of the private sector and intermediary organizations and 
strengthening the capacity of all actors conc erned with the implementation of the interim-
Economic Partnership Agreement.  
1.2.  One of the core interventions of the prog ramme is to support the Standards Association of 
Zimbabwe (SAZ) to upgrade the national standards and quality testing infrastructure. The areas related to this component focus on facilitating market access and upgrading of essential Laboratory equipment and related staff training. Under this project, ITC provided technical 
assistance to SAZ to: 
a. improve the management systems and product certification schemes; 
b. build the capacity of their laboratories for testing pesticide residues, aflatoxin and 
vitamins. 
2  EIF - SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS AND EX PORT DIVERSIFICATION IN THE GAMBIA 
(2012-2015)   
2.1.  In this project, technical barriers hinderin g market access of Gambian exports of groundnuts, 
cashew nuts, and sesame are being addresse d. The activities conducted so far are: 
a. Training on ISO 17025 and quality documentation was provided to 16 laboratory 
technicians;  
b. Assistance to the National Agricultural Research Institute was provided to make the high 
performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) machine operational for aflatoxin testing (April 2014); 
c. A training workshop on standards developmen t procedures based on the Code of Good 
practice of the TBT Agreement was organised for the technical committee members of the Gambia Bureau of Standards; 
d. A one day sensitisation workshop on the control of pre-packages according to OIML 
Recommendations was organised for staff of the Weights and Measures Department; G/TBT/GEN/172 
 
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  e. A manual for quality control of groundnuts for quality control inspectors has been 
developed; 
f. A Quality Assurance Framework has been finalised for cashew nuts and sesame after a 
validation workshop held in February 2013;  
g. The implementation of Farmer Field Schools has started with the preparation of training 
materials and a Master Trainers Training course held from 08 to 15 June 2013; and 
h. The National Export Strategy for Sesame and Cashew nuts was launched (June 2014). 
3  PROMOTING INTRA-REGIONAL TRADE IN EASTERN AFRICA – TANZANIA 
3.1.  ITC is implementing an inclusive and su stainable export-led growth project in Kenya, 
Tanzania and Zambia by improving the competitiv eness of their producers, SMEs and TSIs. The 
project, financed by Finland, promotes particip ation of SMEs in selected agri-food sectors in 
regional and global value chains. In Tanzania ITC is working with local partners who include Small 
Industry Development Organization (SIDO), Asso ciation of Mango Growers (AMGRO), Tanzania 
Forestry Services, and Zanzibar State Trading Corporation (ZSTC) to address values chain gaps in 
the honey, mango and spices sectors. A Trai ning of Trainers was conducted on quality 
management in June 2014 to train 18 SIDO trainers/advisers and other sector stakeholders in providing training and assistance to enterprises in the food quality and safety. 
4  COLLABORATION WITH PTB  
4.1  Workshops on Export Quality Management, Jordan (1-3 April 2014) 4.1.  Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB),  the national metrology institute of Germany, 
and ITC jointly conducted a three-day workshop in Amman aimed to sensitise participants on the 
importance of standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment in international trade, 
and to identify quality-related obstacles for expo rts from the Middle-East region. Needs identified, 
inter-alia, at a regional level are training of re gulatory bodies on effective market surveillance, 
training of trainers on Export Quality Management who in turn will sensitise and train 
representatives of enterprises in Arabic, and regional workshop on Mutual Recognition Agreements. Needs identified at national level include capacity building of certification bodies for 
products and systems, capacity building of te sting laboratories for selected sectors, and 
improvement of conformity assessment. These need s will now be addressed in the framework of a 
joint ITC-PTB project. 
5  PUBLICATION IN ARABIC: EXPORT QUAL ITY MANAGEMENT: A GUIDE FOR SMALL AND 
MEDIUM-SIZED EXPORTERS  
5.1.  ITC and PTB have also partnered to produce an Arabic translated edition of the joint guide for 
SMEs on export quality management. This results-based guide is structured in a question and 
answer format to provide SME managers with answers to their most frequently questions about 
quality, technical requirements, management systems, conformity assessment, metrology, 
accreditation, the WTO Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade and the Application of Sanitary 
and Phytosanitary Measures.  
5.2.  This is the second edition of the 2001 best -seller, Export Quality Management: An Answer 
Book for Small and Medium-Sized Exporters. It has been revised by ITC in partnership with PTB to take into account international trade developments during the last decade. 
5.3.  On line version is available in English, French, Spanish and now in Arabic at: 
http://www.intracen.org/publications . 
6  NON-TARIFF MEASURES (NTM) PROJECT 
6.1.  This project aims to increase transparency and understanding of NTMs, in order to facilitate 
trade in the long-run. It helps countries to understand the non-tariff obstacles to trade faced by G/TBT/GEN/172 
 
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  their business sector, and assists in defining strategies and solutions that meet their exporters' 
needs to speed up and ease cross-border trade.  
6.2.  ITC's programme on non-tariff measures (NTMs) continues in 2014 with new survey 
launches, reports and follow up activities. The survey findings are aimed at promoting better 
understanding of NTM-related challenges in beneficiary countries, contributing to the development 
of solutions. Surveys are demand-driven. Each NT M country report includes recommendations that 
are developed with inputs from local partners. The NTM program is mainly funded by UK's 
Department of International Development (DFID).  
6.3.  Five new country reports as part of ITC's series on NTMs have been published during the 
second quarter of 2014, including the following Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire, and Senegal. For example, two third of companies surveyed in Kenya reported facing difficulties with trade-related regulations 
such as compliance with technical requirements. In Senegal, to help the private sector meet 
international requirements, Senegal would need to streamline national conformity assessment procedures and improve its business environment.  
6.4.  A new NTM survey in Bangladesh was launched in April 2014 in collaboration with the 
Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh. The survey  is expected to run until September 2014 with 
over 1,100 exporters and importers being interviewed on their experiences with NTMs.  
6.5.  In addition, preparation is currently ongoin g for surveys in three new countries: Philippines, 
Ecuador and Benin, scheduled for launch in Q3 and Q4 2014. 
6.6.  For more information about NTM project, please contact ntm@intracen.org . 
7  PUBLICATIONS:  
7.1.  ITC produced a new bulletin as an introduction to Social Responsibility and ISO 26000 for 
SMEs. The brochure outlines the principles, application and benefits of applying ISO 26000 with examples and further resources to consult. 
8  OTHER INFORMATION:  
8.1.  This year is ITC's 50th anniversary and to mark this occasion, ITC hosted an afternoon of 
discussions on trends in trade development and trade-related technical assistance on 10 June, the 
eve of the annual meeting of ITC's Joint Advisory Group (JAG). A collection of success stories and 
testimonials has been published on the ITC website http://www.intracen.org/the-50th-
anniversary-of-itc/client-testimonials/  as also a commemorative edition of ITC's International 
Trade Forum Magazine. 
For more information: 
Ludovica Ghizzoni, ITC Adviser on Export Quality Management  Tel: +41 22 730 06 38 - Fax: +41 22 730 05 76 - E-mail: ghizzoni@intracen.org  
Khemraj Ramful, ITC Senior Adviser on Export Quality Management  
Tel: +41 22 730 04 87 - Fax: +41 22 730 05 76 - E-mail: ramful@intracen.org  
Web address: http://www.intracen.org/exporters/quality-management/  
E-mail address: quality@intracen.org  
Twitter: twitter.com/ITCQuality 
Blog: Medium.com/@ITCQuality  
 
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