WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/GEN/127 
26 January 2012 
 (12-0530) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES OF THE ITC  
 
  The following information was provided by the ITC (International Trade Centre) at the 
TBT Committee meeting of 10-11 November 2011.  
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 I. PROJECTS 
A. C
ENTRAL ASIA (KYRGYZSTAN AND TAJIKISTAN ) 
1. The projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, funded by SECO, are in their third phase. 
The overall objective of this project is to contribute to the sustainable expansion and diversification of SMEs’ exports in Tajikist an through 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 
SQAM
1, TBT and SPS bodies and the regulatory infrastructure.  
1. Tajikistan 
3. A mission will be conducted in November  2011. Assistance will be provided for 
implementing the action plan for implementing the transparency provisions of the WTO Agreements on TBT and SPS, especially for the finalization of the policy statements on TBT 
and SPS transparency, and review of the Standa rd Operating Procedures to be implemented 
by the National Notification Authority, the National Enquiry Points and the Union of 
Businessmen and Exporters of Tajikistan. 
4. A Senior Executive Seminar will be held  on “Management of modern SPS-related 
government agencies”. A roundtable will be he ld on “Streamlining the SPS infrastructure, 
with regard to food safety”. 
2. Kyrgyzstan 
5. A mission will be conducted in November 2011. Assistance will be provided for the 
finalization of an action plan for implementing the transparency provisions of the WTO Agreement on SPS. A Senior Executive Semina r will be held on “Management of modern 
SPS-related government agencies”. A roundtab le will be held on “Streamlining the SPS 
infrastructure, with regard to food safety”. 
                                                      
1 SQAM:  Standards, Quality Assura nce, Metrology and Accreditation. G/TBT/GEN/127 
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  6. A pre-peer evaluation from ILAC took place in  October and action is being taken to 
close the nonconformities. 
II. OTHER ITC PROJECTS OF INTEREST: 
A. J
OINT ITC-ISO  WORKSHOP ON “LINKING TRADE PROMOTION ORGANIZATIONS AND 
NATIONAL STANDARDS BODIES FOR EXPORT SUCCESS ” 
7. ITC and ISO organized in partnership a regional three-day workshop on “Linking 
TPOs and NSBs for Export Success”, hosted by ho sted by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards 
(TBS) and co-hosted by the Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade) in Dar-es-
Salaam, Tanzania from 21 to 23 June 2011.2  
8. Fifty officials from NSBs and TPOs repr esenting 22 Anglophone countries in Africa 
explored how linkages between TPOs and NS Bs can be strengthe ned to improve the 
international competitiveness of enterprises and developed joint country action plans. The 
background documents of the workshop are being uploaded on the ITC website (http://www.intracen.org/exporters/quality-management/  by clicking on “information and 
events”). 
9. This event follows from the first two such regional events organized in Malaysia in 
December 2009, and in Cuba in November 2010. ITC is currently collecting inputs from the TPOs and NSBs that participated in the prev ious joint ITC-ISO workshops to develop case 
studies on interesting areas of colla boration between these institutions. 
10. ITC and ISO are planning to conduct a similar workshop for French-speaking 
countries in Africa in Q1 of 2012 and ITC is currently seeking funding partners for this 
regional workshop. 
B. T
RADE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (T4SD) 
11. The EC (DG Trade) is now a donor to T4SD/Standards Map. ITC’s Standards Map 
allows users to compare priv ate standards with regards to, for example, their governance 
structure, social, environmental and economic criteria, and requirements for implementation. 
Compliance to these standards is not legally re quired by governments or regulations, but it 
could lead to more sustainable environmental practices or potentially open up new markets.  
12. As of October 2011, Standards Map cove rs 43 private standards developed by non-
governmental organizations and private entities. The new standards loaded since June ’11 are 
Fair Labour Association, GoodWeave, Green Seal , Green-e, International Featured Standards 
– IFS, KRAV, Roundtable on Responsible So y – RTRS, SQF Program, Cotton Made in 
Africa, Gold Standard, ProTerra ,Rótulo Ecológico ABNT - Qualidade Ambiental, Food 
Alliance. 
13. The team is working on an additional ni ne standards that will be loaded on the 
website by the end of October.  These st andards are CanadaGAP,  FSSC22000, Fair Wear 
Foundation, LEAF, Global Reporting Initiative – GRI, Impact Reporting & Investment 
Standards - IRIS Climate Community and Biodiversity Standards - CCBS MPS ABC Carbon 
Trust. 
                                                      
2 The ITC contribution to the workshop was condu cted within the framewo rk of the ITC project 
Empowering the African Private Sector Network to st rengthen the international competitiveness of SMEs – 
Component 3, funded by the European Commission.   G/TBT/GEN/127 
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  14. We aim to have approximately 70 standards fully loaded on the website by the end of 
2011. Should you be interested in a live demonstrat ion of the website or in a webinar, please 
contact Joseph Wozniak, Programme Manager ( wozniak@intracen.org ). 
C. NON-TARIFF MEASURES (NTM)  PROJECT  
15. ITC has successfully launched the non-tari ff measures (NTM) survey in three more 
countries (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Senegal) during the period July-October 2011. 
Upcoming countries include Palestine, Kazakhs tan and Cambodia. At the same time, the 
surveys have ended in a number of other countries including Morocco, Mauritius, Rwanda 
and Kenya. NTM Reports for those countries are in the preparation and national workshops being planned for discussion and dissemination of the results with national stakeholders. In 
parallel to the NTM surveys, ITC continues also the collection of official NTM data in several 
countries, including some of those where the su rveys are taking place. The official database 
should be launched by end of this year. ITC is also keeping in touch with ongoing work on NTMs/NTBs in the different regions, such as th e monitoring system (on line  Mechanism for 
Reporting, Monitoring and Eliminating Non-Ta riff Barriers) in the tripartite region (SADC, 
COMESA and EAC).  
16. 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.  
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