WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/106 
24 November 2010 
 (10-6299) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
 
  
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES OF THE ITC (INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE)  
FROM AUGUST - OCTOBER 2010 
 
 
 The following statement was provided by the ITC
 to the TBT Committee meeting of  
3-4 November 2010.   
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. PROJECTS 
A. CENTRAL ASIA (KYRGYZSTAN AND TAJIKISTAN ) 
1. The projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, funde d by SECO, have started their third phase in 
September 2009.  The overall objective of this project is to contribute to the sustainable expansion and 
diversification of SMEs' exports in Tajikistan th rough increasing the competitiveness of the textile 
and clothing industry and improving the quality management infrastructure of the country. 
2. The specific objective in the areas of TBT and SPS, is to improve the capacity of SQAM1, 
TBT and SPS bodies and the regulatory infrastructure. In particular:  
(a) Two Tajik laboratories dealing with produc ts in the agro-processing sector and 
complying with the requirements of IS O/IEC 17025 have been assessed for 
accreditation by a full member of ILAC2; 
(b) The Kyrgyz Accreditation Centre (KAC) is being assisted to become a full member 
of ILAC; 
(c) Assistance is being provided for the es tablishment of the National Notification 
Authority (NNA) and the National Enquiry Points (NEPs) for SPS and TBT in 
Tajikistan; 
(d) The NNA and the NEP for SPS in Kyrgyzstan will be assisted to become operational; 
(e) The SPS infrastructure will be streamlined to cater to the countries’ needs in the area 
of food safety, animal health and plant he alth with regard to imports, domestic 
production and exports. 
                                                      
1 SQAM: Standards, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Accreditation. 
2 ILAC: International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation. G/TBT/GEN/106 
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  II. OTHER ITC PROJECTS OF INTEREST 
A. J
OINT ITC-ISO  WORKSHOP ON "LINKING TRADE PROMOTION ORGANIZATIONS AND 
NATIONAL STANDARDS BODIES FOR EXPORT SUCCESS ", 24-26  NOVEMBER 2010,  HAVANA , 
CUBA AND JOINT ITC-ISO  PUBLICATION ON THE SAME TOPIC  
3. ITC and ISO in partnership are organizing a workshop on "Linking TPOs and NSBs for 
Export Success", hosted by the Oficina Nacional de Normalizacion (NC) with the support of CEPEC (Foreign Trade Promotion Center of Cuba) in  Havana, Cuba on 24-26 November, 2010.  The 
objective of the workshop is to explore how linkages between Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs) 
and National Standards Bodies (NSBs) can be strengthened to improve the international 
competitiveness and export performance of smal l and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The 
expected benefits from the workshop will include: 
- Sharing experiences and lessons learned, 
- Identifying common challenges to improve linkages, 
- Discussing best practice cases, and  
- Developing country action plans to stimul ate collaboration between TPOs and NSBs 
 
4. This event for the Latin America and Caribbean region follows on from the first such regional 
event organized in Malaysia in December 2009, partly funded by the Swedish International 
Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).  
5. As an outcome of the consultation, ITC and ISO have published a handbook that captures the 
highlights of forum discussions and provides additi onal information where relevant.  The handbook is 
designed for those in NSBs, TPOs and government agencies supporting international trade to show 
the advantages of closer collaboration to assist ex porters.  The examples given are drawn from the 
shared experiences of participants, and can be used  by developing economies in all regions to review 
local situations.  The handbook is downloadable from http://www.intracen.org/eqm/events/
 in English 
and Spanish and would be available in French by middle of November 2010.  For more information, please contact L. Ghizzoni, ITC Adviser on Expo rt Quality Management ( ghizzoni@intracen.org). 
B. T
RADE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (T4SD) 
6. ITC continues its work in Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD), a partnership-based 
effort led by the ITC to enhance transparency on  private standards and to increase opportunities for 
sustainable production and trade.  In July, T4SD launched the Standards Map beta web tool that 
centralises information on private standards and makes the data widely accessible to various target 
audiences, namely suppliers from developing countr ies, trade policymakers, and intermediate private 
or public buyers.  The live version of Standards Map will be launched in January 2011.  For more 
information about T4SD, please contac t Joseph Wozniak, Programme Manager 
(wozniak@intracen.org ). 
C. ACCESS!  PROGRAMME  
7. The ACCESS! Programme, initiated under the Canadian-funded Programme, is a gender-
focused, regional trade support programme aimed at  improving the trade support services for African 
businesswomen in international trad e, with a view to promoting their economic empowerment.  Three 
ACCESS training of trainer events have taken place: Senegal (9-17 June 2010), Gabon (14-22 July 
2010), and Zambia (29 September – 7 October 2010).  Fifty six national trainers have been trained to 
deliver the export training course to women entrep reneurs, 22 institutions from 21 countries are or 
will become partners of the ACCESS!  programme for its national delivery.   G/TBT/GEN/106 
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  D. NON-TARIFF MEASURES PROJECT  
8. ITC assists countries to better understand the obs tacles to trade experienced by their business 
sectors when complying with non-tariff measures (NTM). In this regard, ITC implemented company 
surveys on NTMs in various countries, including in 2010 Sri Lanka.  The Sri Lankan survey identified 
at, sector and partner country-level the predominant obstacles the business sector faces when 
complying with NTMs.  
9. ITC is organizing a one day workshop in Colombo (22 November 2010), in close 
collaboration with its partners, to discuss the survey results with key stakeholders, including 
representatives of various Ministries, the privat e sector, trade support institutions, government 
agencies, and academics.  The aim is to to provide an in-depth analysis of the survey results, which 
will help identify the need for concrete actions in key export and import sectors of Sri Lanka.  For 
more information about NTM project, please contact:  Ms Poonam Mohun, ITC, NTM Market 
Analyst, Market Analysis and Research; Tel:  +41 22 730 0277 - Fax:  +41 22 730 0577;  Email: 
mohun@intracen.org  
E. WORLD EXPORT DEVELOPMENT FORUM – ADAPTING POST CRISIS WORLD TRADE PATTERNS 
AND LESSONS FROM EXPORT DEVELOPMENT , 9-12  SEPTEMBER 2010 
10. ITC has organized with the Ministry of Commerce of China, the China Council for the 
Promotion of International Trade and the City of Chongqing, the 4th municipality of China, the 11th 
World Export Development Forum (WEDF). The Forum looked at the strategies employed by 
companies, trade support institutions and policy makers  to mitigate the negative impacts of the crisis, 
by building company resilience through the diversification of markets and product as well as service development strategies. Information on WEDF is available at 
http://www.intracen.org/wedf/welcome.htm
. 
III. PUBLICATIONS AND BULLETINS 
A. ITC  INTERNATIONAL TRADE FORUM MAGAZINE , ISSUE 3, 2010  QUALITY & STANDARDS : A 
PRE-REQUISITE FOR ENTERING MARKETS  
11. The Quality & Standards magazine issue look at  standards and quality and their role for the 
promotion of exports from developing countries.  The issue in English has been published in 
September 2010. Article contributions, inter alia , from ISO, IEC, OIML, UNIDO, STDF, WTO SPS 
Committee, GAP Inc and FairTrade International are very well acknowledged.  The issue will be 
available in French and Spanish later this year. Online version is available at 
http://www.tradeforum.org . 
B. EXPORT QUALITY BULLETIN EQ 80 REV . 1 ON "BUILDING TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURES TO 
SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE " 
12. ITC has reproduced the background paper de veloped by the Network on Metrology, 
Accreditation and Standardization for Develo ping Countries (DCMAS Network, formerly 
JCDCMAS).  The bulletin provides information abou t the technical infrastructures of metrology, 
standardization and accreditation needed by countr ies for a sustainable development and participation 
in global trade.  This bulletin is a revised edition of the previous version published in December 2005.  
Information about DCMAS can be obtained at http://www.dcmas.net .  The ITC bulletins can be 
downloaded from ITC’s website (www.intracen.org/eqm).  
 G/TBT/GEN/106 
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  13. For more information: 
Shyam K. Gujadhur 
ITC Senior Adviser on Standards and Quality Management 
Tel: +41 22 730 03 96 
Fax: +41 22 730 05 76 
E-mail: gujadhur@intracen.org 
 
Ludovica Ghizzoni,  
ITC Adviser on Export Quality Management  
Tel: +41 22 730 06 38  
Fax: +41 22 730 05 76 
E-mail: ghizzoni@intracen.org 
Web address: www.intracen.org/eqm 
 E-mail address: quality@intracen.org
 
 
 
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