WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/W/140 
22 April 2005 
 (05-1663) 
Committee on Trade and Development  
 
  
 
   
TERMS-OF-REFERENCE 
FOR THE STRATEGIC REVIEW OF WTO-PROVIDED 
TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TRTA) ACTIVITIES 
 
Note by the Secretariat  
 WT/COMTD/W/140 
Page 2  
 
  
I. INTRODUCTION 
 
1. In November 2001 at the Doha Ministerial Conference, technical cooperation and capacity 
building were recognised as important components of  the development dimension of the Multilateral 
Trading System.  Subsequently, the Doha Deve lopment Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) was 
established to finance TRTA activities in line with: (i) the technical cooperation and capacity building 
mandates in the Doha Declaration1; (ii) the New Strategy for Technical Co-operation for Capacity-
Building, Growth and Integration2; and (iii) the Coordinated WTO Secretariat Annual Technical  
Assistance Plan3. The annual resources for TRTA and training have doubled, both in the regular 
budget and in extra-budgetary funds . Between 2002 and 2004, the donors allocated SFr 50 million of 
extra-budgetary resources and 16.5 million of the regular budget (RBTA) to meet technical assistance and training needs of the Members concerned in all areas of multilateral trade
4. A TRTA programme 
of work of such magnitude is without example in the history of WTO. The seminars, workshops, 
courses, etc., during the past three years were attended by more than forty thousand employees of 
ministries of trade, commerce, industry, finance,  planning, customs agencies, universities and civil 
society organizations from 120 countries. 
2. The planning system, providing  the framework for the delivery of  the great volume of TRTA 
and to meet the Members' expectations for high quality assistance, has evolved over time. Since 2004, 
the Technical Assistance and Traini ng Plan (TA Plan) has been structured around five main categories 
of products5 and two major programmes, the JITAP and the IF. It includes product-specific objectives 
and offers assistance in twenty-four technical areas in five regions for more than one hundred and 
twenty Member states.  In implementing the TA Pl ans, modalities for effective and efficient delivery 
and systematic gathering of feedback from the reci pients (Members) and beneficiaries (Participants) 
gained importance.  From the very beginning, donors of the DDAGTF emphasized the importance of 
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in managing technical co-operation. Therefore, in May 2002, a 
M&E system was put into effect aiming at maki ng TRTA activities more transparent and accountable; 
sensitizing WTO staff to the importance of the eff ects and impact of the TA delivered; integrating 
evaluation among other management functions.  
3. The M&E system's main means of action is self-evaluation. Although the system also 
provides for thematic and ex-post evaluations of br oader issues than the performance of individual 
TRTA activities, for reasons of resource constraint s, such evaluations have yet to be carried out. 
II. OBJECTIVES, ASPECTS TO BE ASSESSED AND STAKEHOLDERS 
 
4. The main objective is to get independent views and recommendations that can be 
implemented on such aspects of TRTA, which ar e usually not subject to on-going internal 
evaluations. More specifically, external views ar e invited on the following three aspects to be 
examined within the framework of a Strategic Review (Review):  
                                                      
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1 
2 WT/COMTD/W/90 
3 WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.3; WT/COMTD/W/104/Rev.2 and WT/COMTD/W/119/Rev.2 
4 Subject areas currently covered by WTO TRTA are as follows: Accession; Agriculture; Competition  
  Policy; Dispute Settlement; Government Procur ement;  Implementation Issues; IT/WTO Reference  
  Centres; Integrated Framework/LDCs; Investment; Mainstreaming; NAMA; Rules; Services; STPC;  
  SPS/TBT; Textiles & Clothing; Tools for TA; Tr ade and Development; Trade and Environment;  
  Trade Facilitation; Trade Negotiation Skills; TRIPs 
5 WT/COMTD/W/133/Rev.2 – Paragra ph 16: General WTO-related Tech nical Assistance and Training; 
Specialized and Advanced T echnical Assistance and Training; Academ ic Support for Training and Capacity 
Building: an Integrated Approach; Support Technical Assistance and Training Faci lities; and Inputs into 
Activities organized by other Bodies.  WT/COMTD/W/140 
 Page 3 
 
 
  (A) WTO's comparative advantage in offering TRTA vis-à-vis other agencies 
  (B) The relevance of WTO TRTA to the Members and the Participants   (C) Efficiency and management of WTO TRTA 
 
5. The Review is expected to be forward-looking and result in what outside experts can offer by 
the identification and analysis of new priorities and/or modalities for TRTA; formulation of recommendations and lessons learned for future impr ovements; and suggestions of creative ways to 
maximize TRTA benefits. The output  should be use r-friendly in order to facilitate consideration  by 
all the stakeholders of WTO TRTA.  
6. The main stakeholders are the Members, including the Participants who receive TRTA, the 
Donors, and the Secretariat. The results of the Review should help Members (donors and recipients) 
in considering and making informed decisions re garding the WTO TRTA strategy and practice. The 
conclusions, recommendations and less ons learned from the Review may al so relate to and be useful 
to other agencies cooperating with WTO, e. g. IMF, ITC, UNCTAD, WB, WIPO, regional 
development banks, etc.  
III. SCOPE OF THE STRATEGIC REVIEW 
 7. The scope of the Review will cover TRTA provi ded by WTO alone or in cooperation with 
other agencies, e.g. ITC, UNCTAD, WB, IMF, OECD , etc since 2002.  It should include TA products 
delivered within the framework of regional, national and Geneva-based technical assistance and 
training activities as provided for in the annual TA Plan s, or in addition to the Plans.  The JITAP and 
IF multi-year programmes, of which WTO is a coopera ting partner, have recently been evaluated; this 
Review is not expected to repeat those eval uations. Instead, it should include the assessment of 
WTO's role, inputs and performance in contributin g to those programmes, as appropriate. Neither 
should the reviewers redo the work of the Tec hnical Cooperation Audit (TCA) unit. TCA's annual 
reports to the COMTD should be used as source materials. 
IV. ASPECTS TO BE ADDRESSED 
 
8. As mentioned above, the Review will address three aspects of WTO TRTA through seeking 
answers to specific questions below. The answers sh ould be based on analysis , include findings, and 
result in conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned, as appropriate. The comparative advantages and the relevance of WTO TRTA will be examined in the light of the strategic objectives
6 
of WTO technical assistance. 
                                                      
6   There are the seven broad objectives attached to the New WTO Strategy for Technical Cooperation (document 
WT/COMTD/W/90 – 21 September 2001):  
(i) coordinate  effectively with key deve lopment partners to enable countries a nd customs territories, beneficiaries of 
WTO technical assistance, to participate and integrate more meaningfully in the multilateral trading system, in order 
to increase incomes for growth, pove rty reduction and development;  
(ii) assist  beneficiary countries to understand their rights, implem ent their obligations and impr ove their capacity to draw 
on the benefits of an open, rules-based, multilateral trading system.  To this end, technical assistance will focus on 
establishing partnerships with beneficiary count ries to better understand and use the rules;  
(iii) increase  the volume and quality of the technical assistance th at the WTO delivers in response to significantly 
increasing demand (from an increasing Membership);  
(iv) provide  a focused response to the priorities expressed by be neficiaries, within a coherent trade policy framework 
and companion policies;  
(v) support  national efforts and ownership in building durable institutional capacity for trade policy formulation, 
advocacy and negotiation;  WT/COMTD/W/140 
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 (A) WTO's comparative advantage in offering TRTA vis-à-vis other agencies
 
- Who are the key development partners (b ilateral and multilateral) of WTO and what 
are the ordering principles, mechanisms a nd avenues in deciding the TRTA issues on 
which coordination with other agencies is required?  
 
- What specific role WTO plays in offering TRTA relative to other institutions, e.g. 
UNCTAD, ITC, World Bank, etc? Does WTO have a  comparative advantage in offering TRTA? How successful are WTO TRTA activities carried out in coordination and/or jointly with the developm ent partners? Is there a need for change 
in this coordination? 
 
- On the basis of feedback from beneficiaries and TRTA reports, what kind of TRTA 
does WTO do better than other agencies? What mix of TRTA activities can be suggested as an optimum, relative to the li mited resources available for such purposes 
in WTO? 
 
 - How can the WTO further improve the delivery of TRTA? Is it feasible to gradually 
shift to providing expert inputs to other training institutions offering TRTA and/or to supervising whether the training efforts of other institutions are effective and of high technical quality? Could one assume that  by putting emphasis on the training of 
trainers and a steadily increasing role of partner institutions would result in a 
decreasing demand for WTO's direct delivery of training over time?  
 (B) The relevance of WTO TRTA to the Members and the Participants
 
 - How effective are the need s assessment methods used by  the WTO to determine the 
priority areas of TRTA provided to developi ng countries? Do the TA plans reflect 
areas of greatest interest to developing countries? To what extent Trade Policy 
Reviews have been used to help identifyi ng TRTA needs? How could their utilisation 
be improved? 
 
- To what extent WTO TRTA met the needs and demands of the Members arising from 
the implementation of the Doha Devel opment Agenda? Has TRTA helped to 
establish partnership with beneficiary c ountries and improved the understanding of 
 
their rights; helped them to implement thei r obligations and improve their capacity to 
draw on the benefits of an open, rules-based, multilateral trading system? In this respect, what role do outsourcing and regi onalisation (transfer of TRTA activities to 
other institutions) of the TRTA play? 
 - How effectively do the different TRTA products in the Annual Technical Assistance 
and Training Plans (Plan) contribute and li nk up to national efforts to bring about 
sustainable national institutional capacities for trade policy formulation, advocacy 
and negotiation? How successful has WTO b een in mobilising participants from both 
                                                                                                                                                                    
 
(vi) ensure  that WTO technical assistance is delivered within a coherent policy framework (not on a stand-alone basis) 
through careful coordination with bilateral and multilatera l development partners.  Delivery of WTO technical 
assistance within a coherent policy framework will seek to mainstream  trade priority areas of action into national 
development plans and strategies for poverty reduction, so that  trade will more effectively play its role as an engine 
for poverty reduction and development; and 
(vii) provide  legal advice and assistance in re spect of dispute settlement to deve loping country Members, pursuant to 
Article 27.2 of the Dispute Settlement Unde rstanding.   
  WT/COMTD/W/140 
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 genders to equally benefit from TRTA ac tivities? How can the participation of 
women be increased? 
   - To what extent has WTO TRTA been successful in achieving the product-related 
objectives set out in the TA Plan and tho se of the specific objectives established for 
the individual TA activities? Do those obj ectives reflect the needs of the Members 
and the Participants? 
   - How could the dilemma between traini ng the maximum number of persons from a 
maximum number of countries over an average of three days, or training fewer 
persons from fewer number of countries but mo re in-depth, over a longer duration, be 
resolved while ensuring Member countries' rights to benefit from the TRTA? Should the main categories of products included in the TA Plan be developed into technical 
assistance programmes of a larger scale and long er duration? Is there a need to further 
adjust the planning process of the TRTA? 
 
 - Has the volume and quality of the TRTA delivered been comm ensurate with the 
increasing demands, originated particularly  by the increasing Membership? Are needs 
for WTO TRTA infinite, still growing, steady, or decreasing over time?  
  - Is there any cross-fertilization betwee n WTO TRTA and its ot her functions, e.g. 
providing effective services to negotiations and in meeting existing work obligations 
related to rules setting and dispute settle ments? How could the Donors, recipient 
Members and the Secretariat work closer together, including the improved coordination and knowledge-sharing with t echnical committees, in order to enhance 
the results of WTO TRTA?  
 
(C) Efficiency and management of WTO TRTA 
 
 - Has the management of WTO TRTA, that is  the ITTC, the Operational Divisions, the 
Technical Assistance Management Committee (TAMC) and the Technical Cooperation Audit Unit (TCA), been effectiv e and efficient in exercising their TRTA-
related management functions, e.g. planni ng, design, monitoring of implementation 
and evaluation of results? Is there any dup lication or overlap in exercising these 
functions?  
  - How does the established monitoring and evaluation system help in making TRTA 
more results-oriented? How effective is sel f-evaluation compared to other methods of 
assessment? How can ex-post and thematic evaluations be carried out on a regular 
basis? Are the reporting and budgetary  processes of the DDAGTF adequate, 
transparent and effectively applied? Are th e resources adequate to cover non-training 
delivery elements of the DDAGTF such as n eeds assessment, course planning, design, 
monitoring and evaluation? Are there any viable alternatives for improvement? 
 
 - The Review should be based on an appropriate set of performance indicators and 
targets, which can be used in assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of 
the TA Plan, as a whole as well as those of the individual products included in the TA Plan. Recommendations are invited on how the cost-benefit ratio of the TA products can be improved. 
  
 - Finally, conclusions are invited on the extent to which WTO TRTA has generated 
value for money. What are the main resu lts and outcome and do they justify the 
resources allocated?  WT/COMTD/W/140 
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V. REVIEW METHODOLOGY 
 
9. The Review should be independent and external to WTO. It will be based on a combination of 
desk-studies, questionnaires and interviews with ke y staff of cooperating organizations in offering 
TRTA in Geneva and delegates st ationed in, or attending WTO meeti ngs in Geneva during the period 
of the Review as well as on a limited number of fiel d visits to selected countries which have received 
TRTA from WTO. In the countries to be visited it is  extremely important that the Team interview, 
and/or collect information from, former particip ants of WTO TRTA. The reports resulting from the 
Review are required to relate th e conclusions and recommendations to  evidence. The Review will be 
carried out by a team of experts (Team), independent from WTO. 
10. The methods below are to be applied to all the issues addressed in the Review. The Team 
should use instruments and techniques adapted to WT O mandate and suited to the great volume of TA 
events (courses, seminars, workshops, etc) of shor t duration and small budget. More specifically, they 
should include: 
- The preparation of a work plan describing in detail how the Team is going to conduct 
the Review, including the order in which they will address the issues included in the 
TOR; 
- The preparation of a Review matrix that  includes yardsticks such as performance 
indicators/targets, sources of data and sour ces of verification. The yardsticks should 
be used by the Team in an attempt to quantify the analysis of WTO's comparative 
advantages in offering TRTA, its relevance and its efficiency and management. The 
Review matrix should structure the yardstic ks into Input, Output and Outcome levels; 
- Desk review of relevant documents rela ted to the Doha and Cancún Ministerial 
meetings; COMTD reports on technical assistance and training plans; implementation 
reports; annual TCA reports; minutes of relevant COMTD sessions that discussed 
these reports; selected BTORs and Participant Evaluation Forms and a brief overview of the recent external evaluation reports of JITAP, the IF, the ITC and UNCTAD; 
  
-  Analysis and search of the database of WTO/OECD on TRTA/CB to get an 
impression of the results of training offered by WTO compared to other agencies and institutions.  
  - Observation of one or two TRTA even ts on-going in Geneva during the Review; 
 
- Consultations  with donors' representatives in Geneva currently involved in financing 
WTO TRTA; 
 - Consultations with Members' delegati ons in Geneva receiving WTO TRTA, or 
attending Geneva-based meetings;  
 
- Discussions with ITC, UNCTAD and WTO officials (ITTC, Operational Divisions 
and TCA) involved in TRTA planning, desi gn, delivery, monitoring and evaluation; 
 - Interviews and consultations with Member s' representatives in selected developing 
countries that have received WTO TRTA.  
  WT/COMTD/W/140 
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 VI. EXPECTED OUTPUTS  
 
11. The outputs of the Review process should result from the application of the methodology 
outlined above. These should be pro duced along the following schedule: 
- Output 1: Inception Report, including the Work Plan and the Review matrix, to be 
submitted within six weeks of the award of the contract; 
 
- Output 2: Draft Synthesis Report includ ing conclusion, recommendations and lessons 
learned based on the desk reviews and the e xperience gained through field visits. The 
draft synthesis report should be submitted w ithin five months of the award of the 
contract; 
 
- Output 3: Final Report on the Strategic Review of WTO TRTA, to be submitted 
within six months of the award of the contract. 
 
Each report should be as concise as possible and submitted in English to the Steering Committee of 
the Review.  
 
VII. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS 
  Steering Committee
 
 12. The effective management of the Strategi c Review will be monitored by a Steering 
Committee, which will consist of six Members, re presenting both Donor and Beneficiary Members of 
WTO TRTA. The Steering Committee will be set up w ithin one month after the adoption of the TOR 
of the Review by the COMTD. It will select the members of the review Team, guide the Team's selection of the countries to be visited according to the criteria below: 
- the countries to be visited, taken as a w hole, should have received a broad range of 
WTO TRTA, including regional and nati onal activities of both short and longer 
duration, implemented by WTO alone and/or  in cooperation with other agencies; 
-  no more than two countries should be select ed in the larger regions (Asia and the 
Pacific (including small island countries), Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and one country in other regions, i.e. Arab and Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia)  
Coordination
 
13. The Team members will work independently  of the WTO Secretariat, while the WTO 
Secretariat will assist and facilitate the Team members when so requested:  
-  The Institute for Training and Technical Co-operation (ITTC) will be the focal point 
for the Review and will arrange for th e smooth cooperation with the Team;  
- The Operational Divisions providing TRTA, as well as the Administration and 
General Services (AGS) Division, and TCA will collaborate with the Team as required;  
- The counterparts, in their domain, will a rrange for the Team's access to the required 
documentation and information, staff members, etc.  WT/COMTD/W/140 
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 14. The management of WTO TRTA (ITTC, Operational Divisions, AGS and TCA) will also 
stand by to provide comments on the Draft Synthesis Re port that relate exclusively to factual matters.  
15. It should be stressed that the process of dial ogue and consultation between the review Team 
and the stakeholders (Donors, Beneficiary Members and the Secretariat) should not in any way compromise the independence of the re view team and its final report. 
16. The management of WTO TRTA  will prepare a management response to the Steering 
Committee on the Final Report, highlighting its react ion to the Strategic Review and its views on the 
feasibility of the implementation of the recommenda tions and the application of lessons learned 
included in the Final Report. 
17. The smooth implementation of the review will require: 
 - notification by the senior Management  of WTO of cooperating agencies (ITC, 
UNCTAD, etc) as well as the Members concerned on the conduct of the Review (including those who will receive the Team for field visits); 
 
- the organization of formal briefings and debriefings of the Team members at WTO 
headquarters in ITTC and TCA; 
18. Time frame for the Review process: the Review  will be conducted in 2005 and should be 
completed within 6 months.  
VIII. COMPOSITION AND SELE CTION OF THE REVIEW TEAM 
 
19. The Review Team will be composed of three experts with experience in and knowledge of 
developing countries' trade policies, strategies and ca pacities.  None of the team members should have 
been employed by WTO for working as resource person for WTO TRTA activities. They should have 
experience in hands-on management and evaluation of  trade-related technical assistance and training 
systems and, as a Team, able to communicate a nd work in the three working languages of WTO 
(English, French and Spanish). The Team will func tion independently and free of undue influence.  
The Team members will have the final responsibility  for the preparation of the Strategic Review 
report as scheduled and its submission to the Steering Committee.  
20. The selection of the Team members will be managed by the Steering Committee and follow 
the process below: 
- The Secretariat will collect a list of candidates from the Donors and beneficiary 
Members of WTO TRTA and submits the CVs of the candidates to the Steering Committee for selection; 
- The Steering Committee selects th e members of the Review Team. 
For the preparation of the contracts for the Team members the WTO Secretariat will provide 
assistance, if required.  
IX. SOURCES OF INFORMATION 
 
21. The Team members will have access to all official  documents and reports that are needed for 
the strategic review of WTO TRTA. 
__________