WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/W/158 
7 May 2007 
 (07-1886) 
  
Committee on Trade and Development  
 
 
 
 
    
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION AUDIT 
REPORT FOR 2006 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
   
 
     
 
  WT/COMTD/W/158 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
I.
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................4  
II. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................... ...8 
III. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................10  
A. OBSERVATIONS ON THE PREPARATORY /DESIGN PHASE OF TRTA S..........................................10  
B. OBSERVATIONS ON THE IMPLEMENTA TION AND EVALUATION PHASES OF TRTA S..................12  
C. OBSERVATIONS ON PERFORMANCE ..........................................................................................12  
D. OBSERVATIONS ON REPORTING ON TRTA  ACTIVITIES .............................................................23  
IV. TCA'S SUPPORT TO EXTERNAL EVALUATION ACTIVITIES.......................................25  
V. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (TAMC) .............................25  
VI. SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................................25  
VII. ANNEX 1 ........................................................................................................................ .........27  
VIII. ANNEX 2 ........................................................................................................................ .........28  
IX. ANNEX 3 ........................................................................................................................ .........29  
  WT/COMTD/W/158 
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ACRONYMS  
 
BTOR  Back To Office Report 
COMTD Committee On Trade And Development DDA  Doha Development Agenda 
DDAGTF Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund 
IDB  Integrated Database IF  Integrated Framework ITTC  Institute For Training And Technical Co-Operation JITAP  Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme 
K&S  Knowledge and Skills 
M&E  Monitoring and Evaluation MTS  Multilateral Trading System  OD  Operational Divisions PEF  Participant's Evaluation Form 
RTA  Regional Trade Agreements 
RTPC  Regional Trade Policy Course RB  Regular Budget RFC  Reference Centre SPS  Sanitary And Phytosanitary Measures STPC  Short Trade Policy Course 
TA/TRTA
1 Trade-Related Technical Assistance And Training (includes workshop, seminars, 
courses, conferences, etc) 
TAMC  Technical Assistance Management Committee TBT  Technical Barriers To Trade TCA  Technical Cooperation Audit Unit 
TPC  Trade Policy Course 
TPR  Trade Policy Review  
                                                     
 
 1 Used as synonym. WT/COMTD/W/158 
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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
1. Technical assistance delivered in 2006 continue d to be well received by the overwhelming 
majority of the beneficiaries. The review of the data evidenced that it contributed to the Members' 
trade- related capacities by impar ting knowledge and skills relevant to meeting obligations and use 
opportunities emanating from membership. It has al so strengthened developing countries' and LDCs' 
capabilities to more effectively participate in trad e negotiations.  The WTO TRTA providers and other 
resource persons in general made good impression on th e participants and demonstrated an impressive 
command of their subjects and a professionalism in  imparting relevant knowledge and skills and 
disseminating timely information.   
2. More specifically, the achievements are illust rated by the performance indicators below: 
 - Contribution to strengthening Members' trade-related human resources:
 206 TRTA 
events reported to TCA show a rounded figure of some 7,400 persons reached in 
2006. The estimated grand total of beneficiaries of WTO TRTA amounted to some 14,700.  By comparison, the TRTAs in 2 005 reached 12,400, in 2004 reached 12,000, 
in 2003 reached 14,000 and in 2002 reached some 16,000 persons.  It should be noted 
that in reality the number of beneficiaries is probably smaller since many participants 
attended more than one TRTA event.  
  - Satisfaction of the participants w ith the results of the attended TRTA:
 A TRTA event 
is usually considered successful if at least eighty per cent of the participants rated it "very successful" or "successful". The data included in the report show a higher than 
standard satisfaction of participants, i.e. 98% of them rated the attended TRTA "very 
successful" and/or "successful". This perform ance is almost identical with the one 
achieved in 2005 (98.5%). 
   - TRTA providers appear to be more critical than the participants  i.e. 92.5% of them 
rated their workshops, courses, seminars, etc, "very successful" or "successful" (in 
2005 the related rating figure was 89.3%).  As  in last year, the providers' rating of 
success was based not only on  their observa tions on the quality of the exchanges and 
level of interaction with the participants and the analysis of the PEFs, but also on a 
couple of days reflection after the completion of the TRTA. 
 
 - Achievement of TRTA objectives (Effectiveness):
 Objectives were deemed fully 
achieved by 80 per cent of the reporte d TRTAs, a good performance and almost 
identical with the one achieved in 2005.  TCA believes that 80 per cent can also be 
accepted as a "standard expectable rate of effectiveness" and recommends that TRTA providers should use it as a target.  
 
 - Two main products, i.e. the RTPCs and th e eTraining were selected for the review 
with a view to identifying any effects and impact on the beneficiary institutions on the one hand and on the individuals, on the other. The impact of the RTPC programme demonstrated the validity of the approach behind the programme. The 
results show strengthened institutional cap abilities of the partner universities to 
organize, administer and manage RTPC courses.  
  - The results of eTraining courses organised in 2005 and evaluated by TCA in 2006 
demonstrated positive effects on the particip ants and their work and through them on 
the employing organisations. TCA believes that the eTraining should continue the 
ongoing development process in line with the available human and technical 
resources. It also has the potentials on which the operational divisions could 
capitalize.   WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 5 
 
 
  - Efficiency of TRTA activities:
 Efficiency considerations are left to the judgment of 
the TRTA provider(s). Almost 89 percent of  the reported TRTAs were deemed very 
efficient.  This is a significant improvement. The factors mentioned most often are such as cost sharing with other agencies, organising back-to-back missions, improved 
preparations and prior circulation of the programme and training materials, which has 
reduced the cost of on the spot reproductions, etc. Cost-wise, national seminars continue to be more efficient since host gove rnments bear the brunt of the costs. At a 
first glance, regional seminars appear to be  less cost-efficient but they provide for 
more inter-country connections, exchanges of  experiences, etc. Furthermore, not all 
the requests for TRTA national activities can be met due to constraints of available 
staff resources. Therefore regional a nd national activities should continue to 
complement one another. 
  - On the other hand, TCA notes again that by increasing professionalism in designing 
training programmes, delivering lectures, developing and organising tests and group 
work, etc. TRTA activities became more in teractive and the methods participative 
and the entire process more efficient. In ot her words, it means that within the same 
duration and budget the participants could bene fit more. In this regard the eTraining 
courses have proved to be particularly effi cient in reaching a greater than average 
number of participants, and enabling them to make full use of an increasingly user-
friendly and inter-active navigation system.  
  - Gender balance among the beneficiaries of WTO TRTA in the period under review:
 
Women constituted more than one-third (36. 6%) of the participants in the activities 
reported to TCA in 2006.  This is about the same as in 2005 (37%). TCA has found 
that gender balance in the selection of partic ipants was specifically considered in the 
Geneva-based three-month TPCs and other TRTA events. On the other hand, it 
should be recognized that this matter to a larg e extent is in the hands of the Members. 
However, TCA strongly believes that wo men should get equal benefits to men 
therefore, we suggest that the Secretar iat should continue to encourage women's 
participation in TRTA workshops, courses, etc. 
 
3. The 2006 review of TRTA activities has resulte d in a number of recommendations and the 
recognition of the value and validity of some old l essons learned, which have  to be reiterated. The 
lessons learned, structured by the TRTA cycl e, are included in Annex 3. The monitoring and 
evaluation system, procedures and tools introduced in 2002 have generated a lot of evidence that 
WTO TRTA has positive effects and impact. However,  further short and long-term improvements can 
be achieved if the recommendations included in the report are discussed and considered for 
implementation by ITTC and the ODs concerned. 
4. Recommendations for improvement can be divided in two groups. In the first one are those 
submitted by the Strategic Review (SR) team and discussed in the CTD and taken up for implementation by the TAMC. Internal discussions are now going on and address issues, e.g. needs 
assessment, selection of participants, outsourcing, as  well as issues related to partnership with other 
organisations. The SR also recommended increased  resources for TCA to enable it to elevate 
evaluation work to a higher level. TCA is convinc ed that the appropriate action on the agreed-upon 
recommendations of the strategic review and on th e recommendations included in this report as well 
as the application of the lessons learned will furt her improve the quality, relevance and impact of 
WTO TRTA activities. 
  WT/COMTD/W/158 
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5. This section of the Executive Summary highli ghts the key recommendations included in the 
report: 
 - Future TRTA programmes, while duly res ponding to Members' needs, should be built 
on the results of those delivered formerly and follow a systematic capacity-building 
approach. In order to derive full benefits fro m this approach there is a need to have a 
reliable record of the results and the list of  the participants and an organised follow-
up to recommendations emanating from individual TRTAs. 
  - The TRTA design and preparation pro cess should be improved and based on the 
identified needs of the participants. Furthermore, a systematic quality control of the 
design and implementation should be exercised at the divisional level. This should be 
guided by formulating division-wide TRTA  objectives, that should be agreed upon, 
known and used consistently by all TA pr oviders concerned. The TRTA objectives, 
programme, delivery methods, etc, should be verified by a designated official in the division concerned. 
  
 - Eighty per cent objective achievement ra te should be considered as a "standard 
expectable rate of effectiveness" and TRTA providers should use it as a target. 
  - Limit the number of participants to th irty, which has proven to be a manageable 
number to effectively transfer knowledge and skills in training type of TRTAs. For 
TRTAs, which mainly disseminate informa tion, the number of participants may be 
higher. In convocation letters mention specifi cally that the participation of women are 
encouraged. 
   - The operational divisions and ITTC should bring about a mechanism for the 
systematic follow-up of recommendations incl uded in the BTORs.  This could take 
place in regular divisional meetings or, in the case of recommendations involving more than one division, the follow-up may involve the TAMC. 
 
 - To improve delivery methods, Training of  Trainers (TOT) courses should be offered 
not only for those staff members who are new to technical assistance but also for the 
more experienced ones who had attended such  a training earlier. Furthermore, HRD, 
upon the recruitment of new staff members dealing with TRTA (both on a fix- and short term basis), should arrange an ini tial briefing/training for them with TCA on 
monitoring and evaluation  issues. 
 
 - Develop new case studies, tests, exercises, simulations and include more hands-on, 
practice-oriented workshops. Establish a da tabase that would be the repository for all 
of these educational tools. Identify and disseminate best practices. The options could be further explored during the internal  discussions in the TAMC. Such a TRTA 
approach on the long run would improve effi ciency, generate added value and further 
increase the recipients' ownership, provided the Members' own capacity building 
efforts are linked to them.  
  - The divisions concerned should synthesize their TRTA experiences annually and it 
should be discussed within the divisions with  the participation of TCA. Thus the big 
picture of effects and impact would be bette r known, structured and more complete.   
 
 - The Academic Coordinator of each RTPC  should be in charge of preparing the 
evaluation report, following WTO's establis hed evaluation procedures and formats. 
The Terms of Reference of the Academic Coordinators should ma ke clear reference 
to this reporting obligation. The programme of the preparatory workshops in Geneva  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 7 
 
 
should allocate time for a briefing on evaluation issues, the latter should be given by TCA.  
  - TCA believes there is a need for more s ecure funding to make the RTPC programme 
durable. Alternatives to current funding may be the provision of a dedicated fund that 
would securely finance the RTPCs over a transitional period of at least three years. 
Then, an RTPC programme evaluation s hould be conducted, wh ich should provide 
the basis for considerations whether to continue such a funding arrangement or 
finance these courses from other resources, e.g. the regular budget, etc.  
   
 - The eTraining programme, while conso lidating the courses on introduction to WTO, 
should continue to collaborate with other divisions in the development of and experimentation with basic specialized courses. The operational divisions in their own technical areas should capitalize on the results of eTraining, e.g. by selecting persons who completed the eTraining and have a by-and-large identical level of 
comparable knowledge of WTO issues, for f ace-to-face technical assistance activities. 
Furthermore, the divisions should also cons ider if such basic eTraining in their 
technical areas could replace current basic TRTAs and gradually put priority to the development and delivery of more advanced/in-depth assistance in their domain. 
  - The operational divisions and the ITTC s hould ensure that BTORs are prepared, as 
required by the established monitoring and evaluation procedures of TRTA activities 
in WTO. 
  6. Similar to earlier years, TCA continued to assi st in the application of the concepts and 
methods of the results-based management in tec hnical cooperation. It was found that the importance 
of integrating evaluation with ot her management functions is s till not yet generally understood, 
accepted or exercised. Evaluation culture, which assu mes that all staff concerned with TRTA is 
results and effect-oriented, has yet to be develo ped. To help on this TCA regularly shared its 
observations on the quality of the BTORs with the authors, recognized good quality analysis or, when 
it was due, suggested ways of improving TRTA pl anning, design, implementation, evaluation, and 
reporting in the future. The positive reaction of th e staff concerned, as we ll as the weaknesses 
encountered, encourages TCA to continue with this  kind of support service in order to further the 
quality of the technical cooperation activities and their reporting. 
7. In other words, there is still room for impr ovement. When lessons apply to perceptions, 
approaches, behavioural changes, or intervention in to operational management practices, their office-
wide application indeed takes time. Furthermore, c ontinuous efforts are needed in terms of reminders, 
briefings, dissemination of best practices and feedback until the lessons are known and consistently 
applied in every phase of TRTA.  Otherwise bad pr actices can become a routine and lacking critical 
feedback may give the impression that all goes well. In this process, the support that the management 
and staff in ITTC and the ODs can give to th e systematic and proper application of WTO M&E 
concepts and procedures cannot be overestimated.  Al so key in this process is the explicit expectation 
from senior management regarding the timely prepar ation of the BTORs and the systematic follow-up 
to recommendations. 
8. The BTORs received and the opportunities to conduc t a few on-site evaluations continued to 
provide opportunities for TCA to meet a number of TRTA providers as well as  participants, helped it 
to keep abreast with the TRTA process. Furthe rmore, a modern communication tool was added to 
TCA's means of action, that is an Intranet page on evaluation, which has been serving as a major tool 
to facilitate TRTA providers' access to monitoring & evaluation procedures, tools, checklist, formats 
and best practices as well as lessons learned. WT/COMTD/W/158 
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II. BACKGROUND 
9. This is the Technical Cooperation Audit's (TCA ) sixth annual report on tr ade-related technical 
assistance (TRTA) activities of WTO.  It provides a summary of main findings, recommendations and 
lessons learned emerging from evaluations of trade- related assistance undertaken by TRTA providers 
of ITTC and the operational divisions during th e period 1 January to 31 December 2006.  The 
quantitative and qualitative observations draw on the evaluation reports prepared by TA providers 
following the activities concerned, the views of the beneficiaries as reflected in the participant's 
evaluation forms (PEF) and those of TCA made during thirteen on-site evaluations
2.  
10. The report avoids duplicating analysis of i ssues that had been addressed by the "Strategic 
Review (SR) of WTO Trade-related Technical As sistance (TRTA) Activities", which took place in 
the period under review3, and was discussed by the COMTD in a meeting on 3 November 20064. At 
this juncture it is emphasized that TCA supports the implementation of all the recommendations of the 
SR that have been endorsed by the Committee and by  the management of the Secretariat. Most of 
those recommendations are being given further tho ughts by TAMC and more particularly by ITTC. 
TCA is ready to contribute to facilitate the impl ementation of the recommendations which help make 
WTO TRTA more relevant, effective, efficient, and its results more sustainable. Therefore, in order 
not to repeat those value judgments and reco mmendations, this report focuses on a few selected 
features of TRTA delivered last year and high lights some main conclusions drawn from ex-post 
evaluations. Furthermore, it reiterates a fe w updated lessons learned for dissemination and 
application. 
11. During the period under review, WTO continue d to transfer knowledge and skills on WTO 
issues, and disseminate vital information on the st atus of the ongoing negotiations. Despite the stalled 
negotiations for some months in 2006, Members emphasized their need for continued technical 
assistance. In response to that the Secretariat's de livery of TRTA was characterized by accountability, 
transparency and efforts aiming at quality improvement.  
12. In 2006 TRTA was channelled to the members through a number of products delivered in 
four key areas: a) general WTO-related technical ass istance and training; b) specialized and advanced 
training and technical assistance; c) academic suppor t for training and capacity building: an integrated 
approach and d) support training and technical assist ance facilities. The products were outlined in the 
Technical Assistance and Training Plan 20065 and implemented by the secretariat alone or together 
with other partners, where appropriate. 
13. The products continued to be delivered in the form of courses, seminars, workshops, 
conferences and contributions to other organi sations' TRTA or WTO -related meetings. The 
quantitative results are comparable to previous y ears' achievements, (488 TRTA activities in 2002; 
451 in 2003;  501 in 2004;  462 in 2005 and 486 carried out in 2006).  Broadly speaking, the TRTA programme in 2006 benefited mo re than 14 thousand persons. 
14. Overall, the persistently high number of TR TA activities coupled with more than optimal 
number of beneficiaries (36 on average) is not a new observation made in TC A reports. However, the 
slightly increasing average duration is new (last year it was a bit more than four days) and considered 
as a laudable development. It should also be mentioned that the Secretariat, with a view to meeting the 
great many requests of the members, had a clear  drive to deliver as many as possible workshops, 
seminars, courses, technical missions, etc, either in  the form of regional or national activities. The 
                                                     
 
2 Annex 1. 
3 WT/COMTD/W/152 
4 WT/COMTD/M/60 
5 WT/COMTD/W/142  WT/COMTD/W/158 
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great number of TRTA activities, although it appears to be accepted and needed by the Members, also involves the danger that scarce resources for TRTA ar e spread too thin. TCA is convinced that further 
efforts are needed to reduce the great number of TR TA activities, continue to increase their duration, 
use the time more efficiently and raise their substa nce to a more advanced and in-depth level. While 
some activities of basic character should still be orga nised for government offi cials that are new to 
WTO issues, the bulk of the efforts should be put in transmitting more in-depth knowledge and 
sharing practical expertise.  Furthermore, there is a need for more and joint efforts between the 
Secretariat and Members to ensure that each WTO TRTA activity contribute to systematic capacity-
building at the national level.  
15. During the period under review a wide variet y of specific needs of the Members were 
addressed based on the flexibility built into the implementation modalities of the plan.  Process-
oriented changes made by TA provi ders continued, including, inter a lia, the preparation and wider use 
of more exercises, case studies and inter-active met hods. However, we believe that true qualitative 
changes could take place if the TRTA activities were recognised as a whole as a core function of divisional action.  
16. TCA welcomes that, based on feedback gathered through monitoring and evaluation of TRTA 
and responding to Members' statements in the Committee, the 2006 TRTA plan put more emphasis 
on: the assessment of the needs of the Members and those of the participants as well as their selection 
methods; quality considerations linke d to interactive and participa tive methods; connecting different 
TRTA products, e.g. eTraining to other TRTAs with a view to inter alia using it systematically as 
precursor to face-to-face workshops; and efforts to improve cooperation with partner agencies in order 
to capitalize on WTO's comparative advantag es and avoid duplication or overlap.  
17. TCA believes that having delivered almost tw o thousand and five hundr ed activities of small 
size and short duration which benefited an  impressive group of almost 70,000 persons
6 in the last five 
years, the opportunity offered by the SR and the work on the implementation of its recommendations created a momentum for a more systematic developm ent of TRTA.  Such an exercise should end up in 
a complete integration of TRTA with the regular wo rk of the Secretariat. The latter would certainly 
benefit from the evaluative information gathered through TRTA and facilitate  the institutionalisation 
of results-based management. Such a process should gi ve due consideration to the efficient use of the 
organisation's comparative advantages in delivering TR TA and to making sure that what is delivered 
is fully relevant to the Members' needs.   
18. The ITTC continued to act as a recognised cen tre of coordination, planning, delivery of 
TRTA activities and monitoring the use of the DDAG TF.  It also organized informal consultations 
with the Members, which addressed pertinent issues  related to TRTA, e.g. needs assessment, the 
Netherlands Trainee Programme (NTP), evaluation, resources for TRTA, etc, to mention a few.  The implementation of the plan would not have been  possible without the operational divisions (OD), 
which continued to act as the main providers of  TRTA both for regional and national activities.  
Within the Secretariat, the Technical Assistance  Management Committee (TAMC) has functioned as 
a forum for dialogue between the ODs and ITTC and helped to disseminate information and discuss 
pertinent issues of TRTA. 
19. Collaboration with other agencies in delivering TRTA activities has continued in the period 
under review.  From among the many cooperating partners one may mention ITC;  UNCTAD;  
UNIDO;  IMF;  WIPO;  the World Bank;  the regional banks; the donors' organisations;  the JVI in 
                                                     
 
6 Although some participants have certainly bene fited from many more than one course, seminar, 
workshop, etc., which is particularly likely in the case of small countries which have limited number of staff 
dealing with WTO matters. WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 10  
 
Vienna;  IDLO in Rome;  the host universities of regional TPCs in Chile, Hong Kong, Jamaica, 
Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, etc. 
20. This report is based on the review of  intern al evaluation reports covering 206 TRTA events 
copied to TCA in 2006 (the same number as last  year). Furthermore, in  accordance with established 
procedures, some activities were not taken into consideration because they were not subject to or did 
not lend themselves to self-evaluation.  For exam ple, technical consultations; activities related to 
TPRs;  larger programmes that have their own i ndependent evaluation mechanism (JITAP, IF, STDF);  
TRTA events where WTO's only role was to deliver a presentation or attend a conference or symposium organised by other agencies. A more de tailed account of what has been done in all other 
areas are described in document WT/COMTD/W/157 prepared by ITTC. 
21. This report includes TCA's observations on the progre ss, or lack of it, made in some planning, 
design, implementation, evaluation and reporting aspects of the TRTAs delivered along the TRTA 
Plan for 2006.  TCA firmly believes that the desk-revi ew of the large sample of the evaluation reports 
copied to TCA, the frequent feedback from partic ipants and TRTA providers  have provided a solid 
basis for the views included in this report. Overa ll, the results, again, demonstrated that the great 
majority of the beneficiaries of the WTO TRTA act ivities continued to be highly satisfied with the 
effectiveness, efficiency and timely delivery of the workshops, seminars and courses as well as with 
the knowledge and skills imparted.   
22. The main body of this report analyses salient aspects of performance management and 
includes conclusions and recommendations. Furthermore,  in order to illustrate effects and impact it 
highlights the main findings of an ex-post evaluati on of five eTraining courses delivered in 2005. The 
review of the information base of this report justif ied the reiteration of some lessons learned over the 
last couple of years,  which are updated and included in Annex 3. Some of TCA's conclusions or recommendations submitted last year have been taken on board by the SR and ot hers have been taken 
into account by the TRTA Plan for 2007. Others are being considered by ITTC, the ODs and TAMC. 
Therefore, in this report we do not analyse the f easibility and status of the implementation of those 
recommendations but will certainly render account of  any progress made in our annual report for 
2007.   
III. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 
A. O
BSERVATIONS ON THE PREPARATORY /DESIGN PHASE OF TRTA S 
23. Managing TRTA performance starts early, already in its preparatory/design phase. A well 
prepared and designed TRTA workshop, seminar, et c, should facilitate to measure and manage the 
performance. A good design should be transparent clear ly stating what will be the expected results 
and how will they be achieved, by whom and who w ill be the beneficiaries. It is also a basis for 
accountability to deliver the planned benefits on time  and in expected qualit y and within allocated 
budget. The following table shows what TA providers set out to achieve over the last five years:  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 11 
 
 
 
2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 Quality of TRTA objectives 
% 
Real objective, reflecting benefits to be gained by 
participants 72.3 60.19 55.36 48.3 28
TA provider's activity set out as an objective 23.30 34.47 38.84 51 65
TRTA output set out as an objective 2.0 3.40 4.46 0 0
No objective indicated 1.4 1.94 0.45 0.7 7
 
 
24. On the one hand, the table demonstrates that the "just do it" approach that was so massively 
followed by TA providers two-three years ago a ppears to be gradually changing. TA providers 
increasingly realise that a seminar, workshop, course, etc, should focus not on what the resource person(s) do but rather on the expected results. In  other words, what the Members gain through the 
participants in terms of, e.g. improved cap acities to meet WTO rules and regulations. 
25. It is welcomed that the expected end-results are more frequently reflected in the objective(s) 
and are set out and announced prior to the delivery or at the beginning of a particular TRTA. One might conclude that TA providers seem to become  more and more effect- and result-oriented.  
26. In summary, TCA has found that more care and work were put into the planning and design 
of individual TRTAs.  This is a welcomed developm ent.  However, we cannot but encourage that the 
quality of the planning and design of WTO workshop s, courses, seminars be further improved thereby 
providing for more transparency, accountability a nd a better basis for performance measurement and 
management. 
27. As mentioned in earlier TCA reports, the deliver y process of TRTAs appears to be adequately 
monitored but a formal control/verification of the consistency and quality of TRTA designs (and also 
an organised way of follow-up  actions) is still lacking.  It happens quite often that TA providers from 
the same division deliver workshops, on the same subj ect and state in some cases  well, but sometimes 
poorly formulated objectives. This inter alia , points to insufficient communication or lack of 
exchange of information within the division(s) concerned.  
28. Evidently the quality,  inter alia , depends on the knowledge, cap ability and willingness of the 
TA provider to apply the establis hed design and evaluation procedures and tools, his/her readiness to 
exchange and learn from relevant experiences of other TA providers both within and outside the 
division. Last but not least, it also depends on th e expectations of the senior management and the 
priority it attaches to TRTA. In some divisions TRTA  programme designs are left to the discretion of 
the TA provider responsible for its delivery, while in other divisions a kind of an informal quality 
control is exercised by a more senior staff member . This latter practice appears to provide a by and 
large consistent TRTA d esign. It is recommended
 that the quality control be facilitated by formulating 
division-wide TRTA objectives, that should be agreed  upon, known and used consistently by all TA 
providers concerned.  
29. With a view to strengthening the TRTA developm ent process, the directors have an important 
role by continuously encouraging TA providers  to better planning and delivery and gathering 
feedback on results, effects and impact.  It goes without saying that although TCA is primarily an 
evaluation unit, it is ready to give advice also on the design aspects of TRTA activities to all the 
providers. It is recommended  that TRTA providers should regularly use TCA's services for assistance 
in the formulation of TRTA designs, e.g., setti ng out objectives, performance indicators, targets, 
evaluation procedures, gap-charts, etc. WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 12  
 
B. O
BSERVATIONS ON THE IMPLEMENTA TION AND EVALUATION PHASES OF TRTA S 
30. In implementing the TA plan for 2006 the Secret ariat carried out or organised somewhat less 
than 900 field missions and delivered 486 TRTA ac tivities. The actual programme continued to be 
characterized by quality products driven increasingl y towards impact and effects. The implementation 
was geographically balanced with a justified bias for Africa and within that for the LDCs.  More 
specifically7, Africa hosted 37%, Arab and Middle East countries 7%, Asia and the Pacific 19%, 
Caribbean 7%, CEECACs 8%, Latin America 11% a nd Other (global) 12% of the all the TRTAs 
carried out in 2006. Furthermore, the increased aver age duration, about 4 days of the reported TRTAs, 
facilitated a broader and deeper coverage of a ll the WTO agreements with a degree of detail 
determined by the composition and exp ectations of the participants.  
31. All this was done in a relatively simple and flexible manner.  Evidence gathered through the 
analysis of the reports point to the TRTA activ ities' contribution to capacity building. Continued 
efforts were made to avoid dupli cation and overlaps with similar TR TA activities of other providers. 
TCA has indeed identified only a very few cases when WTO TRTAs coincided with or overlapped 
with other agencies' meetings or other activities.  
32. The TA providers, through 163 re gional and 246 national workshops, seminars, courses, etc, 
continued to provide opportunities for raising awar eness about what is at stake during the current 
negotiations, what the WTO rules stipulate and what  the different positions are. Nevertheless, TCA 
believes that there is still room to reduce the numbe r of activities, increase their duration and plan and 
implement them with a view to generating cumulative effects. 
33. The evaluation reports and feedback received fro m participants continue to confirm that WTO 
staff are considered as outstanding experts of expl anation and implementati on of WTO agreements.  
They offered a comprehensive, worldwide view of  the current issues, which benefited from their 
possession of the latest information on the negotiations  and the in-depth knowledge of the internal 
mechanism of WTO committees.   
C. OBSERVATIONS ON PERFORMANCE  
34. TCA applied performance indicators (PIs) to ve rify the TRTA performance in 2006. The PIs 
were used for the first time in TCA's last year report and found helpful in making observations on the performance. This year we have added observations on effects and im pact of two products, i.e. the 
RTPCs and eTraining.  Information on the follo wing performance indicators are presented below: 
(a) Contribution to strengthening Member s' trade-related human resources
 
35. Contribution to the development of trade -related capacities also helps to increase the 
recipients' awareness and knowledge of trade policy issues. More specifically, through the participants 
the recipient Members gain a better understanding of trade and development, knowledge of trade 
policy matters and capability to improve national di alogue on trade policy issues and participate more 
effectively in trade negotiations. 
36. TCA's own records of 206 TRTA events s how a rounded figure of some 7,400 persons 
reached in 2006.  If one takes into account the av erage number of participants (36 per TRTA in the 
206 reported one to TCA) and assumes that this average also holds for the rest of the total number of 
TRTA activities (409) delivered in 2006 8 the rough grand total of beneficiaries amounts to some 
14,700.  By comparison, the TRTAs in 2005 reached 12,400, in 2004 reached 12,000, in 2003 reached 
                                                      
7 See more on numbers in doc WT/COMTD/W/157 
8 This figure deducts the number of TRTA (77)  where WTO participated in conferences, etc.  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 13 
 
 
14,000 and in 2002 reached some 16,000 persons. In other words, WTO TRTA activities have 
benefited more than 69,000 persons in the last five years. The level and kind of benefits accrued to the 
participants are not the same for the entire group of the participants. It also depends on whether they 
attended a training or a TRTA disseminating info rmation only. However, a national trade-related 
capacity can utilize all the different  benefits provi ded the participants care of the appropriate follow 
up actions.  It should be noted that in reality the number of beneficiaries is probably smaller since 
many participants attended more than one TRTA ev ent. On the other hand, TCA has learned that the 
proportion of those who attended WTO TRTA for the first time is still considerable. These estimates 
are, of course, indicative only but still show a very  impressive size of the group of beneficiaries.  
37. To summarise, on the basis of this performan ce indicator the secretariat performed about the 
same numerical level as in the past.  The credit fo r this should go to some 230 staff members, who 
delivered a huge TRTA programme.  It is believe d that if the planning system remains the same, 
including the number of products, the Members' needs for TRTA will remain high. Here it is proper to 
reiterate TCA's earlier recommendation  that there is need to limit the number of participants to thirty, 
which has proven to be a manageable number to  effectively transfer knowledge and skills. For 
dissemination of information type TRTAs th e number of participants may be higher. 
(b) Gender balance among the beneficiaries of WTO TRTAs  
38. The proportion of women among the beneficiaries of WTO TRTA is a cross-cutting issue that 
should be considered in all workshops, courses, se minars independently from their subject, duration 
or location. TRTA activities should benefit men a nd women on the basis of equal opportunity and 
equal treatment. This is not only another pe rformance indicator but also a principle. 
39. TCA's review of data show that women constituted more th an one-third (36.6%) of the 
participants in the 206 TRTA activities reported to TC A in 2006.  This is about the same as in 2005 
(37%).  It should be noted that eleven TR TA activities (app. 5%) did not detail the gender 
composition of 375 participants. The precise recording of the participants is a known challenge. It has 
been learned that it is particularly difficult in regional and national events involving a number of 
participants who come and go throughout the TRTA period. But even if the missing breakdown of 
data were available we doubt that it would si gnificantly change the above percentage up-or 
downwards. TCA has found that gender balance in the selection of participants was specifically considered in the Geneva-based three-month TPCs and other TRTA events. On the other hand, it should be recognized that this matter to a large exte nt is in the hands of the Members. However, TCA 
welcomes the increased participation of women in TRTA activities and suggests that the Secretariat 
should remain proactive in encouraging women's participation. 
(c) Substantive areas addressed by WTO TRTAs reflect Members' demand
 
40. In 2006 the reported TRTAs addressed a range of substantive issues needed by Members 
(Annex 2). Their most frequent occurrence in the pr ogramme of the TRTA activities were as follows: 
Services, NAMA, Agriculture, TRIPS, Trade Fac ilitation, Rules, Dispute Settlement, Reference 
Centres, Trade and Development and SPS.  The rest were scattered over: Accession, Customs 
Valuation, TBT, Implementation Issues, Trade and Environment and Trade Negotiation Skills. In 
comparison with 2005, one can observe an increase  in many areas, particularly in DDA Advance 
Negotiations issues, government procurem ent, implementation issues and NAMA.  
41. The relative weight of the substantive areas is explained by the fact that WTO TRTA is 
primarily demand-driven. In other words, TRTAs deliv ered at the country level were fully based on 
national requests and the programme and its objec tives were agreed upon between the recipient 
government and the Secretariat. There is no inform ation, however, on the number of country-requests 
that had to be turned down, at least temporarily, for lack of resources, timing, or integrated with regional TRTAs, etc. Issues discussed in regiona l workshops, seminars, etc., were based on the WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 14  
 
similarity of country requests and organised with due consideration to resource constraints. Although 
the judgment on the need for a regional TRTA involves a good degree of assumption on behalf of the Secretariat, and also from Members in the phase of the approval of the TRTA Plan. 
42. TCA recommends
 that future TRTA programmes, while duly responding to Members' needs, 
be built on the results of those delivered formerly and follow a systematic capacity-building approach. 
In order to derive full benefits from this approach there is a need to have a reliable record of the 
results and a database of particip ants and an organised follow-up to recommendations emanating from 
individual TRTAs. 
(d) Satisfaction of the participants with  the results of the attended TRTA  
43. This performance indicator is quantifying the ob servations and level of satisfaction of the 
beneficiaries as stated at the end of the TRTAs.  Their statements cover both the quality of the 
handling of substantive issues, the observations on  the interaction with the resource persons, the 
timely availability and quality of the training mate rials, the potential usefulness of the imparted 
knowledge and skills at work, etc. In formation on this indicator is impor tant from the point of view of 
results-based management, which not only measures the performance of the TRTA provider(s) in 
terms of timely delivery of the workshop, sem inar; production and distribution of documents; 
logistics, etc, but also takes into account the bene ficiaries' views and the TRTA's effects and impact 
on them. In line with these considerations the success ratings in 2006 assessed both by the participants 
and the TA providers gene rated the results below: 
TRTA success rating (%) 
 2006 2005 
 
Results By 
participants By TRTA 
providers 
 By 
participants 
 By TRTA 
providers 
 
Very successful 47.2 4 38.5 47.67 35.03
Successful 50.75 54 50.78 54.31
Satisfactory 1.51 5 1.04 8.63
Non-satisfactory 0.5 2.5 0.52 2.03
 
 44. Experience shows that a TRTA event is usually considered successful if at least eighty per 
cent of the participants rated it "very successful" or "successful".  Therefore, this 80 per cent serves as 
a benchmark.  The table above shows a higher than st andard satisfaction of participants, i.e. 98% of 
them rated the attended TRTA "very successful" a nd/or "successful". This performance is almost 
identical with the one achieved in 2005 (98.5%).  
45. At the level of individual TRTA activities, it s hould be recalled that the participants' success 
ratings are expressed at the end of the TRTA workshop,  course, etc. Their views may to a large extent 
be influenced by the so-called "halo" effect
9 at the end of the TRTA. This is an important feedback 
but the "real" value is manifested later when the par ticipants return to work and intend to use the new 
knowledge and skills. However, such values can only be identified by ex-post evaluations. 
46. Nevertheless, somewhat different are the view s of the TRTA providers regarding the success 
of their work and 92.5% of them rated their work shops, courses, seminars, etc, "very successful" or 
                                                      
 9 The halo effect refers to a bias whereby the percep tion of the success of a TRTA  is influenced by the 
views of other participants or observations stated in public during the end-of TRTA evaluation round-table. 
  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 15 
 
 
"successful" (in 2005 the figure totalled 89.3%).  TRTA providers appear to be more critical than the 
participants. As in last year, the providers' ra ting of success was based on their observations on the 
quality of the exchanges and level of interaction with the participants and the analysis of the PEFs etc. 
47. Other considerations may also play a role. For instance, the TRTA provider, in designing the 
programme, may have assumed that all the participan ts would have the basic knowledge of the subject 
matter and s/he could start the TRTA at a more a dvanced level. However, on the spot it was learned 
that quite a few of them did not have it. Such a situation required a prompt change in the programme, 
or extra sessions with those in need. This may be we lcomed by the participants concerned but in fact 
it hindered the full delivery of the original progra mme. In TCA's view this less than perfect rating 
reflects a professional (including sometimes self-critical) judgment, which always leaves room for 
learning and improvement. 
48. The following observation was already made in th e last year's report but the review of the 
2006 reports again substantiates that while giving high success rating, the participants continued to 
ask for further improvements, such as more oppor tunities to practice on cases and work on national 
examples, and that these examples should possibly be taken from their own countries or from 
countries in comparable situation. Furthermore, th e participants often welc omed more opportunities to 
interact with both the resource persons and with e ach other, appreciated explanations of possible 
alternative actions, which would enable them to we igh up appropriate actions in their own national 
context. Some of them did not hide their views on the performance of some resource persons. The following table illustrates some of the observations of the participants: 
 
- "The local resource person was not familiar with the Agreement and its application in the  African 
 context." - "It would have been useful to evaluate the TRTA providers individually. Their level of knowledge 
 was different." 
- "More exercises and sector-specific discussions are needed rather than explanations of the 
 articles that are available even on the Internet." 
- "The TRTA would be more relevant if the national experiences could be incorporated in the 
 training." - "Too many abbreviations – difficult to understand for those participating for the first time."
 
 
 49. All these observations demonstrate that many partic ipants are eager to continue to learn more 
and in-depth. This is why they need continuous ly high quality performance. This approach also 
facilitates that the recipients/beneficiaries become r eal "owners" of the results . The follow-up to these 
recommendations lays with the TRTA provider(s). 
50. In conclusion, the TRTAs reported to TCA in 2006 were delivered again to the almost full 
satisfaction of the beneficiaries and received th eir full support. Nevertheless, evidence on other 
performance indicators such as: contribution to e ffectively increasing national capacities, which result 
in a significant degree of participation in trad e negotiations; timeframe of implementation and 
compliance with WTO agreements etc., can only be identified some time after the completion of the 
particular TRTAs, at a time when the acquired knowle dge and skills can be expected to be put to use 
at work. The analysis of such issues is very co mplex, since those performance indicators are heavily 
influenced by not only WTO TRTA but by many other international and national trade-related 
activities. It would of course have been useful if  the strategic review of WTO TRTA-related activities 
had gathered some evidence on such an impact.   
 WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 16  
 
(e) Achievement of TRTA objectives (Effectiveness)
 
 
2006 2005 Level of objective achievement 
% 
The objective was fully achieved 80.6 81
The objective was partially achieved 15 11
The objective was not achieved 1.5 1
No objective was stated 2.4 7
 
 51. The objectives to be achieved by the end of the activity, if well formulated, should reflect an 
answer to the problems/needs that gave justificati on to the TRTA. The level of the achievement of the 
objectives set out by the TRTA workshops, seminars, c ourses, etc.,  has been used as another indicator 
of good or poor performance.  In this regard, one should note that a workshop, seminar, course, etc., 
can be viewed successful both by the participants and the TRTA provider(s) despite the fact that it 
may not have achieved or not fully achieved its objectiv e(s).  It also depends on the participants' own 
expectations and objectives. The management may c onsider the two indicators, i.e. success rates and 
effectiveness together in deciding on improvements of future TRTAs. 
52. Last year TCA recommended that TRTA providers should not only formulate good objectives 
but indicate them very clearly at the beginning of the workshop, seminar or course and how their achievement would be measured. In 2006 it was obser ved that more TRTA providers followed that 
advice. This practice sensitises the participants that the workshop, seminar, etc., will be result-
oriented and that WTO would check on the results.  In other words, more TRTA providers made the 
result-generation process transparent and accountab le. Nevertheless, many of them still need 
assistance in setting out simple, measurable, achie vable and realistic objectives, coupled with 
performance indicators, targets, and help in the pr oper application of the evaluation methods (gap 
analyses, interviews, PEFs, verbal evaluations, writing analytical BTORs). Furthermore, there is still 
need for all TRTA providers to consistently announce the objectives at  the beginning of the 
workshop, course, seminar, etc., since it is not enough to indicate the objectives in the convocation 
letter only, which might not reach  the nominated participants. 
53. The 80 per cent objective achievement rate in 2006, evidenced by the table above, is again 
noted as a good one and is almost identical with th e one achieved in 2005.  TCA believes that 80 per 
cent can also be accepted as a "standard expectable  rate of effectiveness" and recommends that TRTA 
providers should use it as a target.   
54. In the course of the analysis of the achieve ment of the objectives, TCA noted that in 
evaluating effectiveness only a small percentage of TRTA providers app lied pre-set Performance 
Indicators with which they compared the actua l performance. Most of them identified the 
performance retrospectively after the completion of  the TRTA workshop, course, etc, while writing 
the BTOR. The table below demonstrates the kind of PI s that TRTA providers used in support of the 
achievement of the objectives.   WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 17 
 
 
 
Quality of Performance Indicators (PI)* Percent 
Preset Indicators 5.83% 
Answers to PEFs 46.60% 
Active participation 27.67% 
End-of-TRTA verbal evaluation 12.14% 
Quality of participants' presentations  14.56% 
Formal test of K/S taught 6.80% 
Feedback from participants 46.60% 
Feedback from participant's employer 1.46% 
No indicators set out 5.83% 
Total Questionnaires with no replies 8.74% 
  55. The table shows that the major sources of the judgment are linked to the participants, their 
views, opinions, performance and leve l of participation. It is laudabl e that the TRTA providers did not 
rely on one indicator only and based their evaluati on on several ones.  Most often used PIs were the 
participant's answers to the PEFs (46.6%) as we ll as feedback received from them during the 
workshop, seminar, etc., (also 46.6%). Other PI su ch as formal tests of how well the knowledge and 
skills imparted was understood (6,8%), was used less frequently. Indeed, such tests are best suited to 
training workshops, courses, etc.,  and are not really applicable to information dissemination. Hence is 
their relative low weight. TRTA providers have al so used kind of proxy indicators, e.g. active 
participation, quality of the participants' presentati ons as well as views collected through round-tables 
completing the workshops, courses, etc. Feedback from the participant's employers are very rare 
during the TRTA (1.46%).  
56. Having considered the use of PIs in judging objective achievement, one can say the broader 
the basis of the evaluation the safer the conclusion regarding effectiveness. One can conclude that the 
different kinds of and regular feedback received fro m the participants substantiate the high level of 
effectiveness of the TRTAs reported to TCA. Ho wever, the evaluations could be made more 
analytical if they compared planned with actual performance.  
57. To improve on this, TCA kept sending feedback (comments and suggestions) to the authors of 
those evaluation reports the quality of which could be improved. Such a feedback was usually well 
taken and subsequent reports app eared to be of better quality. 
(f) Examples of effects and impact
 
58. The effectiveness in objective achievement and success rates as shown above refer to the 
immediate results. Evidence on outcome and im pact would point further down the line and 
demonstrate important longer-term changes attributab le to one or several TRTAs. This report has 
selected two products that are growing in importanc e and their effects and impact benefit recipient 
institutions on the one hand and individual particip ants on the other. The first one is the Regional 
Trade Policy Courses and the examples below primarily refer to effects and impact on partner universities, their capacities and programmes.  The second product is the eTraining and the examples 
point to effects and impact on the individual participants and their work.  
(i) Regional Trade Policy Courses 
59. Building institutional capacities at the regional le vel will lead to the establishment of regional 
bases for WTO training with the local partners increasingly assuming responsibility and developing other WTO-related activities. The examples below we re derived from information submitted by ITTC 
and reports prepared by the academic coordinators of the RTPCs.  It has been found that the partner 
universities carry a very large responsibility for th e successful outcome of the RTPCs. This includes WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 18  
 
administrative operation; ensuring the welfare of the participants; assigning a local academic co-
ordinator, a local administrative officer and additi onal staff for the RTPC within the limits of the 
budget provided by the WTO.  In addition, the academ ic coordinator is present to provide support to 
the trainers and also acts as an information resource for participants.  
60. Each WTO and regional trainer intervene for a li mited period of time so it is the responsibility 
of the university to ensure that there is coherence and continuity throughout the course. The university 
is also responsible for ensuring that participants  are provided with the best possible conditions to 
allow them to concentrate on their work and gain the maximum benefit from their participation in the 
RTPC. These arrangements offered opportunities for th e partner universities to broaden their scope of 
action both in administration and management of training in the MTS. 
61. The impact of the partnerships between Secr etariat and the recipient universities can be 
evaluated in terms of the degree to which the uni versities’ ability to manage the course has improved 
over the years, and in a broader context how part nering with the WTO impacted on the university.  
62. In 2006, all five RTPCs were conducted effi ciently and on time along the scheduled 
programme. Each partner institute ensured that there was full attendance by participants and that their 
needs for participating in the course were met. WT O and regional trainers we re equally supported by 
the university. All the partner uni versities showed an increased sense of ownership of the RTPCs, 
which was evidenced through their increased autonom y in the delivery of the RTPC, both in their 
preparations prior to the course and in the day-to-d ay running of the course. This was the case for both 
administrative/logistical issues as well as on the part  of the Academic Coordinator dealing with the 
substance of the training programme.  They dealt efficiently with unforeseen problems which arose 
throughout the course, which in earlier years of th e partnership may have required more input by 
WTO. The issues which had emerged in the previous  year, e.g., making payment of participants’ per 
diem in US dollars and the problems in the issuance of visas, were anticipated at an early stage by the 
relevant partner and were successfully addr essed. Overall, the universities anticipated the 
requirements for the RTPC, were proactive in their management and enhanced their efficiency.   
63. With regard to their capacity to deliver traini ng from a substance point of view, there was also 
evidence of enhancement in this area.  The pa rtners, through the Academ ic Coordinators, were 
involved in the development of the RTPC curriculum,  particularly following their first RTPC. When 
based on their interaction with the participants, as well as written and oral evaluations, the Academic 
Coordinators were able to identify particular topics of interest, and suggest a re-distribution of time 
allotted to different subjects.  Th is knowledge can in turn be transferred into devising other WTO-
related training activities to be delivered by the university. 
64. Each partner university through the Academic Coordinator and faculty members also assisted 
in the identification of regional resource people for participation in the RTPC. In 2006, which was the 
second year of the partnership with the University of Namibia and the University of Chile, and the 
third year of the partnership with the University of  Hong Kong, the University of the West Indies and  
L'Université Mohammed V – Souissi, each partner ha d strengthened their working relationship with 
the relevant regional resource people and they were  in a better position than before to identify among 
the regional resource people those with whom they could collaborate in the future on WTO-related 
training activities.   
65. Each partner university had a number of facu lty members participating as regional resource 
people on the RTPC, in addition to the Academic Coordinator. Also a small but substantial WTO 
reference library, each including at least 100 bo oks, had been established with every partner 
university. In addition, all the institutions had a libra ry of all the training material provided by trainers 
on the RTPC. Therefore, by 2006, each partner unive rsity had enhanced its capacity to deliver WTO-
related training in the areas of administration, th e development of a course curriculum, identifying  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 19 
 
 
possible resource persons, and providing a core WTO reference library. These developments are in line with TCA's recommendation made in 2004
10. 
66. 2006 marked the conclusion of Phase I of the part nership, which is the conclusion of three 
RTPCs, between WTO and the University of Hong  Kong, the University of the West Indies and 
L'Université Mohammed V – Souissi.  At the en d of Phase I, the University of Hong Kong and 
L'Université Mohammed V – Souissi were working on plans to introduce masters' programmes with a 
specific focus on the WTO.  Furthermore, the Univ ersity of Hong Kong carried out WTO training in 
the Asia region during 2006. 
67. In the Caribbean region, three RTPCs were completed between 2004 and 2006. During this 
period, on average, five government officials fro m each country in the region attended a RTPC. 
Subsequently, it was decided with the partner, the Un iversity of the West Indies, that it would not yet 
enter into Phase II. Instead, the university, in partnership with WTO, would run a three-week 
Consolidation Course in 2007, which would pr ovide a modular, advanced course to former 
participants of the RTPCs, together with former  participants from the Geneva-based TPCs. This 
would be the first such consolidation course to be offered to former participants of RTPCs and TPCs. 
68. Finally, RTPC programme also had an impa ct on the ITTC, which learned the need to 
streamline its preparatory work with the partners and to establish a more systematic, harmonized approach across all the partnerships.  
69. TCA suggests that an agreed upon strategy for the RTPC programme be developed and 
adopted by the WTO committees concerned, with a view to providing long-term guidance and 
consideration for a sustained funding for the RTPCs.  TCA believes there is a need for more secure 
funding to make the RTPC programme durable. Alte rnatives to current funding may be the provision 
of a dedicated fund that would securely finance the RTPCs over a transitional period of at least three years. Then, an RTPC programme evaluation should be conducted, which shoul d provide the basis for 
considerations whether to continue such a fundi ng arrangement or finance these courses from other 
resources, e.g. the regular budget, etc. 
(ii) eTraining Courses 
70. The examples of effects and impact and so me key conclusions and recommendations were 
derived form TCA's and the eTrain ing Team's joint impact evalua tion of five eTraining courses 
organised in 2005.  
71. The five courses reviewed included three on-line Introduction Courses on WTO Basic 
Principles organized in English, French and Sp anish for participants from developing and LDC 
country Members;  an introduction course held for participants for the English-speaking African 
region, in partnership with the University of Nairobi; and finally, an introduction course on WTO 
Trade Remedy Rules for government officials in Asia  and the Pacific region.  The latter course was a 
pre-requisite for participation in an Advanced  Regional Seminar on Anti-Dumping, organized in 
Vietnam shortly after.  A total of 212 partic ipants benefited from eTraining courses in 2005.  
72. It was found that the five eTraining courses ha d been implemented in line with WTO's overall 
technical cooperation strategy featuring high quality t echnical assistance (TA) that is relevant to the 
needs of the Members.  Furthermore, the eTraining courses were planned and implemented as a product of the annual TA Plan.  The courses benefi ted from coordination and collaboration with the 
operational divisions concerned for the preparation and quality control of the training materials and 
making tutors available for eTraining. It should be  mentioned that without the devoted tutors who 
                                                     
 
10 Paragraph 81, doc. WT/COMTD/W138 WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 20  
 
willingly undertook the responsibility ove r and above their regular work in the division, the eTraining 
courses could not have performed well. 
73. All eTraining courses were one by one evaluated by ITTC's eTraining team in accordance 
with established procedures.  More than 80 per cen t of the participants rated the courses in 2005 
successful or very successful.  The success rates reflect ed the participants' immediate reaction to the 
performance of the eTraining courses in terms of meeting their expectations and the quality of 
knowledge and skills (K&S) transferred.  The review  of the evaluation reports evidenced that the 
eTraining team continuously responded to the sugg estions made by participants, which resulted in 
improvements in the delivery of subsequent courses.  eTraining was welcomed by the participants and 
is gradually being perceived by the operational di visions as a base-course before a more specialized 
training course is offered. 
74. It was also found that the application of the tr ansferred K&S at work, the sustainability of the 
results and any other effect and im pact on how the participants carry out their functions are mainly in 
their hands but also largely determined by their organisations, and the effectiveness of the latter's 
capacity-building efforts.  WTO does not have control over these aspects.   However, if everything is 
done, as shown by these eTraining courses,  positive impact may be achieved.   
75. The ex-post evaluation has shown that K&S imparted by the five eTraining courses are to a 
large extent employable and have contributed to improved performance of the participants at work. 
The most typical results were taking new initiatives at  work and contributions made to the country's 
trade policy, strategy, legislation. Furthermore, in  a few cases,  the new K&S appear to have helped 
the implementation of WTO Agreements and contribu tion to and/or participation in multilateral trade 
negotiations. 
76. In some cases the courses have even contributed  to the career of the participants.  The link 
between training and performance as well as progress in career appears to exist.  On these issues this 
is the first evaluation which gathered evidence from th e participants themselves. A total of 34 persons 
reported about now bearing higher responsibilities than at the time of the eTraining.  This means that 
some 52 % of the respondents (65) got some kind of a promotion. Among them some 44 per cent did 
not exclude that eTraining may have influenced the decisions on their career and some 32 per cent 
were positive about the linkage between the eTraini ng and promotions.  Two participants indicated 
that eTraining was crucial to them in taking up job in Geneva.  On the latter issue, however, it is not 
known if the successful completion of the eTraining was put as a condition to be transferred to 
Geneva, or eTraining had only been an added va lue before a decision was made regarding the 
selection of a person to work in Geneva.  Nevert heless, in the opinion of the two respondents, 
eTraining has played a significant role in advancing their career. 
The study has concluded, inter alia , in the following main conclusions and recommendations: 
- Overall, the Programme is a valuable initiativ e that filled a gap by providing a standardized 
approach in dealing with the WTO basics and al so addressing specific issues.  A large number 
of participants are being trained at each course, many of whom would not have had access to 
quality training thr ough other means.  The eTraining pr ogramme appears to have received a 
gradually increasing priority and visibility in th e Secretariat.  However, more can be done to 
fully explore the potentials of eTraining. 
- eTraining can now be considered as a fully mature product, which can progressively become 
a recognised on-line depository of all IT-based produ cts.  It has the potential to reach a large 
number of persons at low cost and to further expand without jeopardizing or diminishing the 
need for other WTO TRTAs products.  While techni cally its potential is in finite, its expansion  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 21 
 
 
is certainly constrained by the limited number of the staff of the eTraining team11 and that of 
the available tutors.  Furthermore, the expa nsion should be so governed that quality 
considerations should always come before increasing the number of courses and the number 
of students to be reached. 
- eTraining now offers a consolidated pack age of K&S and a training programme and has 
become more user-friendly and relevant.  The p ackage could be seen and used as the first step 
of capacity building, followed by more specia lized training courses thereby meeting recurrent 
suggestions of the participants.  Thus there w ill be no need for other WTO TAs to spend long 
hours to explain the background to WTO and its history.  The time thus liberated could be used for more exercises, cases and inter-action be tween the TA providers and the participants.  
- eTraining could gradually replace some short (2-5  days) regional courses that are of a general 
character, and obviously much more costly. It should be noted that the performance of eTraining in 2006
12 and the plans for 200713 point to this direction. 
- At successful completion of the eTraining the participants reach a comparable level of WTO 
K&S.  This result should be capitalized by the S ecretariat, and in particular by the operational 
divisions, for a better selection of a more homoge nous composition of participants for face-to-
face advanced trainings (basically fo r regional courses and workshops).   
- Participants' selection is mainly a function of their government authorities.  While this may be 
true, a more systematic approach may be needed  for additional or advanced training. Current 
methods of participant selection could be improved to more effectively target those officials 
who could benefit most from the training.  An im portant condition to this is that ITTC and the 
operational divisions regularly use the list of successful participants made available to them 
by the eTraining programme.  
- It is recommended that the eTraining team ma ke a demonstration of the programme in TAMC 
explaining the divisions' TA focal points the eTraining's potentials, its possible linkages to other TRTAs and highlighting the lessons learned and areas of possible cooperation. 
- The evaluation have found no substantial li nkages between eTraining and the Self-Training 
(CBT) and the Briefings components of the E- Learning product included in WTO Technical 
Assistance and Training Plan.  These two co mponents also use computer-based training 
modules and CD-ROMs that include slide presenta tions, video-files and reference documents.  
It is recommended
 that all the components of the E-Learning programme should collaborate 
with one another in order to share tools, trai ning materials and to avoid eventual duplication 
of development efforts.  Furthermore, e-Tr aining should have more synergies with other 
TRTA products. 
77. In concluding, feedback from eTraining par ticipants demonstrate not only the overall good 
opinion on eTraining but also validate the progra mme's effectiveness and potentials to generate 
positive results and impact. 
78. The eTraining programme, while consolidati ng the courses on introduction to WTO, should 
continue to collaborate with other divisions in th e development of and experimentation with basic 
specialized courses. The operational divisions in their own technical areas should capitalize on the 
                                                      
11 Although staff resources allocated fo r eTraining were increased in 2006. 
12 Seven courses were organized in 2006 (814 participants). 
13 The 2007 course programme includes 20 courses in English, French and Spanish: Introduction to the 
WTO and specialised courses such asTBT, S PS, Agriculture, Trade Remedies and TRIPS. WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 22  
 
results of eTraining, e.g. by selecting persons w ho completed the eTraining and have a by-and-large 
identical level of comparable knowledge of WTO issues, for face-to-face technical assistance activities. Furthermore, the divisions should also cons ider if such basic eTraining in their technical 
areas could replace current basic TRTAs and gradually put priority to the development and delivery of 
more advanced/in-depth assistance in their domain. 
(g) Efficiency of TRTA activities
 
79. In examining the performance of TRTA work shops, seminars, courses, etc., it is also 
important to have evidence of whether they were carried out efficiently, i.e., whether the results 
justified the costs.  The following was found: 
Efficiency Results 
2006 2005 
Very efficient 88.9 67.48 
Satisfactory 5.3 13.11 
Less than satisfactory 4.4 2.91 
 
80. Efficiency considerations are left to the judgment of the TRTA provider(s).  As the above 
table demonstrates, the efficiency of the repor ted TRTAs has significantly improved. The authors 
refer to factors such as cost sharing with other ag encies, organising back-to-back missions, improved 
preparations and prior circulation of the programme and training materials, which has reduced the cost 
of on the spot reproductions, etc.  Cost-wise, nati onal seminars continue to  be considered most 
efficient since host governments bear the brunt of the costs. At a first glance, large size regional 
seminars appear to be less efficient. However, the S ecretariat is not in the position to meet all of the 
requests for national activities. Regional and nati onal activities are complementing one another. 
81. On the other hand, a last year observation seems to be still valid. TCA notes again that by 
increasing professionalism in designing training pr ogrammes, delivering lectures, developing and 
organising tests and group work, etc. TRTA activ ities became more interactive and the methods 
participative. In other words it means that within the same duration and budget the participants could 
benefit more. In this regard, the courses have proved to be particularly efficient in reaching a greater 
than average number of participants, and enabling them to make full use of an increasingly user-
friendly and inter-active navigation system. The grow ing number of new and cost-efficient initiatives 
made the TRTAs more intensive a nd interesting. They also helped exchange of experience among the 
participants and benefit from newly established c ontacts as well as strengthened the relationship 
between the participants and the secretariat. 
82. Nevertheless, TCA has to recall a few weaknesses, e.g.: 
 - we are not certain that regional workshops involving some 120 participants from all 
over an entire continent and incurring more than 800,000 Sfr for some three to four 
days duration can be considered cost effici ent from the point of capacity-building. By 
comparison, the costs of a regional TPC of three months duration (less participants 
though) could only match this amount;  
  - TRTAs are sometimes run on the basis of too rigid a programme, which does not 
leave flexibility to meet individual expectations on the spot;  
 
 - revisions and/or preparation of presentations are made at the last minute, which 
clearly makes the delivery less efficient. Su ch actions are sometimes explained by too 
much work and no time for sufficient preparation; 
  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 23 
 
 
 - the late preparation of documents ofte n leads to expensive on-the-spot reproduction 
of the documents (in hotels, for example).  
 83. Most of these weaknesses could be cured by better planning and or ganisation of work. 
Training of the TRTA providers (Training of Trai ners – TOT) would certainly help. Therefore TCA 
repeats its recommendation
 that such a training should be offered for those new to design, implement, 
evaluate and report about TRTA and also for th e more experienced ones who had attended such a 
training earlier. At this juncture it is also reca lled that in order to de velop a common language for 
TRTA planning, delivery and evaluation, HRD upon th e recruitment of a staff member dealing with 
TRTA (both on a fix- and short term basis), should arrange a briefing/training for him/her with TCA. 
84. The growing number of TRTA needs assessments , as mentioned in the ITTC's Annual Report 
on Technical Assistance and Traini ng (1 January to 31 December 2006)14, is a positive sign of the 
Members' intentions to further develop trade-re lated capacities and will provide guidance for WTO to 
establish priorities in planning and delivering  TRTA activities. If, in responding to that, WTO divisions developed TRTA workshops, courses and se minars of longer duration, more in-depth and 
hands-on and specialised – which was suggested by TCA in its earlier reports – it would certainly 
require a considerable investment in time and work on behalf of the TRTA providers. Such a 
development is suggested to take place gradually but consistently. Within this approach it is 
recommended
 to develop new case studies, tests, exercises, training programmes and the 
establishment of a database that would be the repos itory for all of these educational tools, etc. The 
options could be further explored during the in ternal discussions of the implementation of the 
recommendations of the strategic review. Such a TRTA programme on the long run would improve 
efficiency, generate added value and further in crease the recipients' ownership, provided the 
Members' own capacity building efforts are linked to them.  
D. OBSERVATIONS ON REPORTING ON TRTA  ACTIVITIES  
85. Reporting is a crucial element of any management system since it provides feedback and 
evidence on a regular basis of what went well and what went wrong. TCA appreciates the number of 
BTORs sent to it for information and considers th at the volume and quality of information gathered 
last year is representative, not complete though. It  also notes that the information embedded in the 
self-evaluation reports include the TRTA providers ' reflections on one workshop, seminar, course 
only. Their judgment has to be credited since the pr oviders know all the details  and have a first-hand 
information on each and every workshop, course or seminar and are in a most intensive contact with 
the participants. Therefore, TRTA providers are also in a position to see their TRTA activities over a 
certain period of time as a process, compare th e results and outcome of different workshops and 
seminars and the feedback received. Hence they can make and implement recommendations and draw 
and apply lessons for subsequent TRTA activities or  regular work. Therefore they are in the best 
position to synthesize such work. It is therefore recommended  that the divisions concerned synthesize 
their TRTA results and outcome annually and the s ynthesis should be discussed within the divisions 
with the participation of TCA. Thus the big picture of effects and impact would be more complete and 
detailed. 
86. The substance and format of reporting on TRTA  activities has to follow established internal 
procedures on monitoring and evaluation of WTO technical cooperation, which, inter alia , stipulate 
that a Back-to-Office-Report has to be prepared af ter the TRTA concerned was completed. Regarding 
the contents of the reports sent to TCA it has been  found that most of them addressed the formally 
suggested performance concerns, that is effectivene ss, efficiency and timeliness of delivery. It was 
also found that an increasing number of TRTA provi ders have moved from description to analysis and 
reflection to the participants' observations and sugg estions. Some of them also showed evidence that 
                                                      
14 WT/COMTD/W/157 WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 24  
 
their authors learned from experience, for example: "There have been  continual improvements made 
to each successive intensive course. Lessons lear ned with regard to course design and method of 
delivery were implemented each time with the objec tive of providing the most effective course in 
developing trade negotiations skills for participants."  This approach, TCA believes, should continue 
to be followed by many since the main mission of evaluation is providing a learning opportunity and 
if it is well used it should result in improved TR TAs in the future. TCA acknowledges some reports of 
outstanding quality, which all constitu te good examples or "best practices".  Inter alia , the reports on 
the three-month TPCs and Geneva-based activ ities, courses and workshops on NAMA and TF, 
government procurement, trade negotiation skills and techniques, and are particularly worth 
mentioning.  
87. Longer training courses such as the regional TPC s constitute a complex subject to report 
about. It is not only because the report, inter alia , should reflect the performance of some twenty and 
more resource persons but mainly because the prin ciple of self-evaluation, the established method for 
TRTAs in WTO, cannot be rigorously applied sin ce it would necessitate the permanent presence of a 
member of the Secretariat throughout the entire dura tion of all the five the RTPCs. This condition 
cannot be met for the reason of resour ce constraints. Hence it is recommended
 that the Academic 
Coordinator of each of the RTPC be in charge of preparing the BTOR as stipulated for all the other 
TRTAs. The TOR of the Academic Coordinators should make clear reference to this reporting 
obligation. The programme of the preparatory workshops in Geneva should allocate time for a 
briefing on evaluation issues, the latter should be given by TCA.  
88. A key to improvement of TRTAs is the follo w-up to the recommendations included in the 
BTORs. The review of the 206 reports showed that a great number of recommendations were made in 
reaction to the views of the participants or the recipient government agency(ies). Almost 90 per cent 
of the reports submitted ideas for improvements, e. g., increased duration, better and/or continued 
collaboration with other agencies, changes in c ourse substance, etc. The impressive number of 
recommendations demonstrate that the TRTA provide rs care of the results of their workshops and 
seminars, etc., and have ideas on how  to improve them and make them more relevant to the needs of 
the Members. What TCA believes is needed is the establishment of a more transparent and organised 
mechanism, both within and between divisions, wh ich ensures that the recommendations made are 
followed up as appropriate. Therefore, it is recommended  that the operational divisions and ITTC 
bring about a mechanism for the systematic follow- up of recommendations included in the BTORs.  
This could take place in regular divisional mee tings or, in the case of recommendations involving 
more than one division, the follow-up may involve the TAMC. 
89. Last year the ITTC improved the monitoring and registration of the BTORs by uploading 
them to the ITTC web-page annexed to the traini ng schedules. Hence the  interested persons not only 
could learn that a BTOR was prepared but also access the report. TCA welcomes this initiative.  
Regarding the regularity of reporting, a large major ity of the 206 reports sent to TCA last year were 
prepared within the established d eadlines. Some others, although they were prepared, for some 
reasons were not sent to TCA. Again some of them, particularly the ones which reported about 
TRTAs delivered in the course of the second half of November and in December 2006 were prepared 
in January, or even February 2007 only. The reasons referred to were mainly lack of time or year-end 
leaves. Furthermore, it is not excluded that some TRTA activities might not have been reported about. 
For the preparation of this report a deadline of 15 February was set up beyond which TCA could not 
take into consideration late-prepared BTORs. 
90. Room for improvement in reporting is evident.  TCA has also learned that the format of the 
BTOR can be further improved and made more u ser friendly. Accordingly, a new format was 
introduced at the beginning of 2007 and the TRTA pr oviders have started preparing their reports by 
using the new template. Finally it is, again, recommended  that the operational divisions and the ITTC 
ensure that BTORs are prepared w ithin the official deadline, as requi red by the established monitoring 
and evaluation procedures of TRTA activities in WTO.    WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 25 
 
 
91. In order to improve the awareness of and f acilitate the application of the established M&E 
procedures, concepts and tools, as well as the dissem ination of lessons learne d, TCA has developed an 
Intranet site that is operational. The same volume of information is also available on CD-ROM. Both 
include all the relevant information in the form of an evaluation resource kit (guidelines, checklists, 
reporting forms, best practices, etc), which are recommended to be regularly consulted by all persons 
involved in TRTA. 
IV. TCA'S SUPPORT TO EXTERNAL EVALUATION ACTIVITIES 
92. During the period under review TCA facilitated the work of the Steering Committee of the 
Strategic Review (prepared and organised its s essions, made comments when requested, etc) and 
provided the necessary information (hundreds of BT ORs, documents, reports, etc.,) for the review 
team. This work did not in any way influence the work and views of the steering committee of the SR 
or the inputs made by other divisions of the Secretariat to the SR. TCA continues to pay attention to the internal discussions/follow-up to the recommenda tions of the SR and hopes that the outcome of 
such  discussions will generate ideas on how to  further increase WTO's comparative advantages in 
providing TRTA, make it more relevant to the need s of the Members and enhance its efficiency and 
management. 
V. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (TAMC) 
93. The TAMC continued to function as a forum to discuss coordination, management and other 
across the board issues of TRTA. In 2006 it had eight meetings and, in addition to the status of the 
implementation of the annual TRTA plan and the fi nancial situation, which are recurrent items on the 
agenda, it addressed the following issues: report on the eTraining on rules in preparation for the 
regional intensive course; ITC's market access map; logistics issues; final report of the strategic 
review of WTO-provided TRTA and its implicati ons. It also addressed and devoted several sessions 
to the implementation of the recommendations emanating from the SR. 
94. ITTC played the lead role in organising the TA MC's work. It is welcomed that an increasing 
number of operational divisions re gularly participated in the meetings and shared experiences on 
TRTA issues. The TAMC has continued to serve as a reminder of the importance of TRTA in the 
Secretariat's work and strengthened the awareness  of accountability for delivering high quality TRTA 
activities.  
VI. SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS  
95. TRTAs delivered in 2006 continued to be recogni sed by the majority of the beneficiaries very 
successful or successful. The review of the data  evidenced that WTO TRTA contributed to the 
Members' trade- related capacities by imparting kno wledge and skills relevant  to meeting obligations 
and use opportunities emanating from membership. It has also strengthened developing countries' and 
LDCs' capabilities to more effectively participate in trade negotiations.  The WTO TA providers and 
other resource persons in general made good impressi on on the participants through demonstrating an 
impressive command of their subjects and a professi onalism in disseminating timely information and 
imparting relevant know ledge and skills.   
96. This seems to be logical since the WTO secr etariat enjoys a comparative advantage in 
delivering TRTA on WTO agreements as well as their implementation, the members' rights and obligations and disseminating inform ation on on-going negotia tions.  TCA recalls that most of these 
areas are also open to other agencies, the private se ctor, the academia, civil society organisations, etc. 
Some of them are partners in implementing WT O TRTA but have also their own trade-related 
assistance programmes. Furthermore, two large TR TA products i.e. the RTPCs and the university 
partnership programme are continuous ly developing competitive intellectual capacities in the regions. 
Hence one should make continuous efforts for im provement, revise old practices, search for new WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 26  
 
avenues and adapt to new developments since what may be good enough for the present soon 
becomes out-dated.  While strategic development issues and key priorities are in the hands of the Members, operational modalities can be improved by th e ITTC and the ODs. The lessons learned, are 
not new and by definition should be considered for implementation after due co nsideration. Therefore 
even an old one could be new to those who are new in the TRTA field and useful also for the more 
experienced ones since their application could bene fit from their prior experience.  The 2006 review 
of TRTA activities has resulted in the same types of lessons learned in previous TCA reports, however, old lessons have been revised with a view to reflecting recent experience.  Annex 3 contains 
the main lessons learned from the analysis and review of the BTORs and discussions with TA providers. 
97. TCA has learnt that when the lessons apply to  perceptions, approaches, behavioural changes, 
or intervention into operational mana gement practices, their office-wid e application indeed takes time 
and need the support from senior management. Furtherm ore, continuous effort is needed in terms of 
reminders, briefings, dissemination a nd feedback until the lessons ar e known and consistently applied 
in every phase of TRTA: planning design, implemen tation and evaluation.  Otherwise bad practices 
can become a routine and lacking critical feedb ack may give the impression that all goes well.   WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 27 
 
 
VII. ANNEX 1 
EVALUATIONS CARRIED OUT BY TCA IN 2006 
 
Onsite Evaluations  
 
1. Ecuador  WTO/IDLO public international trade law course (Spanish)   
   (13-14 February) 
 2. Argentina
 Workshop on government proc urement for Latin America  (5-7 April) 
 
3. UAE   WTO rules on regional trade agreements for Arab and Middle East countries 
   (18-20 April)   4. Kenya
  JITAP: regional evaluation workshop, Nairobi (22-23 May) 
 
5. Yemen   upgrading of the WTO reference centre and training on the WTO databases 
    (6-8 June)  6. Zambia
  Trade facilitation for Africa (13-16 June)  
 7. Tunisia
  Non-agriculture market access negotiations for Arab and Middle East  
   Countries  (11-13 July) 
 8. Croatia 
 Trade remedies for Balkan countries  (17-20 July)   
 9. Romania
 Upgrading of the WTO reference centre and training on the WTO databases  
   (17-19 October)  
 10.  Fiji
  Workshop for parliamentarians in the pacific (24-26 October) 
  11. Singapore
 Workshop for NGOs: FES/WTO workshop for Asian civil society 
   (30-31 October) 
 
12. Morocco  Workshop on trade and environment - the work of CTE and the negotiations  
   for Africa (French) (22-24 November)   
 13. South Africa
 Joint WTO/UNU Southern Africa Univer sity professors training programme  
   On the WTO and sustainable development  (11-14 December) 
 Ex Post Evaluations initiated by TCA in 2006:
 
 14. eTraining courses in 2005  
15. WTO Reference Centres 
 16. Trade Policy Courses (35
th and 36th) in Geneva 2006. 
 WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 28  
 
VIII.  ANNEX 2 
SECTORAL COVERAGE OF WTO TRTA ACTIVITIES REPO RTED TO TCA SINCE 2002* 
 
2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 Sector 
(%) 
Accession 8.74 2.91 7.14 2.07 3.97
Agriculture  19.90 19.9 20.98 13.79 15.87
Competition policy  0.97 1.94 8.04 7.59 2.38
Customs valuation  7.28 5.83 8.93 4.83 7.94
DDA Advanced Negotiations Courses  5.83 3.88 2.23 12.41 18.25
Dispute settlement  13.59 15.05 15.18 12.41 15.87
Government procurement  1.94 3.88 7.14 2.76 3.17
Implementation issues  6.31 8.74 9.38 8.28 7.94
IT/WTO reference centres  12.62 12.14 8.04 7.59 2.38
Integrated framework/LDCs (separate 
reporting since 2006)  4.85 2.43 3.57 0.69 4.76
Investment  0.49 5.36 12.41 5.56
Mainstreaming  1.46 1.46 1.79 0.69 6.35
Market access  2.43 10.6 8 18.30 14 .48 11.11
NAMA (singled out only since 2004) 19.9 14.08 27.23  
Rules  14.08 16.02 17.86 13.79 13.49
Services  23.79 22.33 29.91 26.21 29.37
SPS  9.22 9.22 15.18 2.76 2.38
TBT  7.77 8.74 11.16 16.55 17.46
Textiles & clothing 3.4 3.4 6.25 4.14 2.38
Tools for TRTA  1.94 1.46 2.23 2.76 6.35
Trade and environment 5.34 2.91 4.91 7.59 3.97
Trade facilitation  14.56 13.59 9.38 2.07 5.56
Trade negotiations skills  4.37 6.31 8.04 0.69 4.76
TRIPS  16.02 11.17 9.38 2.07 0.79
Trade and development  11.65 8.25 3.13  
Other  27.18 24.76 8.48  
 
*Multiple answers were allowed, for a TRTA activity  addresses issues in several substantive areas 
  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 29 
 
 
IX. ANNEX 3 
LESSONS LEARNED 
 
(a) Lessons learned for application during the Planning and Design phase of TRTA  
- Sustainability is a function of the knowle dge-base which the participants will bring 
with them to the TRTA activity. The lowe r the knowledge-base of the participant, the 
less likely that the acquired knowledge and capacity will be durable. 
  - TAMC focal points in operational Divisions play a key role in integrating TRTA even 
more fully into the work of Divisions.  They should also help in exercising quality 
control over TRTA designs and maki ng monitoring and self-evaluation more 
systematic. 
  - The long-term objectives for the major pr oducts set out in the Plan ensure that 
individual TRTA activities, if properly li nked to them, will bring contribution to 
those product-objectives. Such an approach  would result in more coherence in 
delivering TRTA in specific areas. 
  - For TA activities, set out clear objectives which are simple, measurable, achievable, 
realistic and time-framed. They help transparency and accountability.  
 
 - Without performance indicators, succ ess and objective achievement cannot be 
measured. Therefore, set out simple benchm arks whereby the change that your TRTA 
has generated can be measured. The sources of indicators lie in your analysis of the Members' problems and needs. The indicat ors should be formulated prior to the 
delivery of the TRTA. 
 
 - Participants prefer delving more deep ly into the technical issues covered by the 
TRTA workshop, seminar, etc, rather than the general aspects of WTO. In order to 
make the most efficient use of the time available, the part that is devoted to a sort of historical presentation of the GATT/WTO, may have to be limited.  Information on this can be handed out to the participants prior to launching the activity (exceptions 
are TRTA of general character). 
  - A TRTA workshop, course, seminar, etc., that really requires five days rather than 
three, or two TRTA providers rather than one, will be of lesser quality if these requirements are ignored. Even if this m eans more expense per TRTA, it is worth 
considering whether a somewhat smaller num ber of workshops, seminars, etc., but of 
the higher quality, is not worth the sacrifice of a small number of more marginal TRTAs. 
  - In preparing for delivering a workshop, seminar, etc., give some thought to 
developing standardized presentation modules that contribute to getting the message 
across in a coherent manner.  
  - Make a realistic assessment of the time needed for each "module", including 
questions and answers, and stick to it.  Build into each activity a round-up session at which anything can be raised, and if running overtime at any juncture, make a note to 
return to the question during the round-up. 
  - The host country, and/or TA partners, ha ve to be relied on for organizational aspects 
of the project: venue, audio-visual facilities, hospitality arrangements. This also WT/COMTD/W/158 
Page 30  
 
means access, at the venue, to fax, telephone  and e-mail. Therefore, make the basic 
requirements for a successful workshop, course, etc., clear to the organizers so as to avoid misunderstandings and last minute di fficulties, and ensure that agreed upon 
requirements are adhered to as laid out.  
 
 - Most TRTA providers use PowerPoint presentations and computers. Get advance 
information if the host organisation does have the necessary equipment (computer, 
projector), with the required specifications. If it does not, or the information appears to be unreliable, take a WTO projector and computer with you. Fall-backs in case of 
missing or non-functioning equipment, or simply electricity outages, have to be 
foreseen: marker boards and flip-charts may be  low-tech, but they rarely disappoint.  
 (b) Lessons learned for application during the Implementation phase of TRTA 
 - Have as much interaction as possible with the participants but bear in mind that you 
have to deliver your programme. There is need  for a balance of such an interaction, in 
particular at the beginning of the activity. Early interaction allows the TRTA provider 
to gauge more accurately what level of  knowledge the participants have and how 
participative they are likely to be. 
  - Illustrate what is being said at an activity as far as possible with examples drawn from 
national/regional experience. TRTA providers  should systematically consult, for 
example, existing TPR reports, Economist Intelligence Unit Country Reports, or any 
other source of such information, prior to delivering the TA. 
  - Examine what improvements can be made to delivery by adapting the methodology 
imparted by the Training-of-Trainers (TOT) course organised in 2002. 
 
 - Consider organizing follow-up to clarify outstanding issues; this could be done by e-
mail correspondence in order to limit costs. 
 (c) Lessons learned for application during th e Evaluation phase, and reporting of TRTA  
 - To measure effectiveness is also easier if the objective(s) of the TA activity are 
clearly stated at the outset, and correspond not only to what the WTO believes should 
be the objective, but also to what the par ticipants want out of the workshop, seminar, 
etc. Clearly, this is easier in the case of national projects than in regional or sub-regional TRTAs, where expectations may vary according to the circumstances of participating countries. 
 
 - The use of the revised BTOR format facilitates the formulation of evaluative 
conclusions and recommendations. The BTOR serves as an official record of what 
has been achieved and how and through the recommendations it provides for follow-up and sustainability.  WT/COMTD/W/158 
 Page 31 
 
 
- Enhanced understanding of the Agreemen ts, coupled with major improvements in 
national human capacity in WTO matters is important, but will have less impact in the absence of a solution to the very real supply-side  constraints faced by Members, in particular 
LDCs.  Addressing these constraints directly is  beyond the remit of the WTO and beyond its 
resources.  But the awareness that there are issu es linked to supply-side constraints regarding 
trade integration can be reinforced in two wa ys:  by repeated reference to them both in 
discussions in the WTO and with other devel opment partners, and by acknowledging in our 
TRTA activities that consideration of the Agreements alone is not enough. 
  
__________