WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TF/COH/S/14 
7 May 2009 
 (09-2245) 
  
  
 
COHERENCE IN GLOBAL ECONOMIC POLICY-MAKING 
 
Report (2008) by the Director-General
 
  I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This report has been prepared pursuant to pa ragraph 2 of the General Council Decision on 
"Agreements Between the WTO, the IMF and th e World Bank", to inform Members about the 
activities carried out by the WTO under its cooperati on agreements with the IMF and the World Bank. 
2. Activities under the 1994 Ministerial Declaration on the Contribution of the WTO in 
Achieving Greater Coherence in Economic Policy-Maki ng further intensified in 2008.  The effects of 
the difficulties in financial markets that developed in  2007 were felt not only in financial sectors, with 
the failure of several important financial institutio ns, but also on global ec onomic growth throughout 
2008, with a sharp deterioration in the second half of the year. Reduced incomes and demand affected 
trade expansion in 2008, particularly for export-de pendant countries. Furthermore, the combination of 
a liquidity shortage on money markets and increased ri sk aversion by financial institutions led to a 
drying up of the supply of trade finance, thereby depressing trade flows more than otherwise.  
3. In this scenario of rapid contagion of a financia l crisis on the real economy, which is likely to 
further depress world economic activity in 2009, a consensus emerged throughout leading nations and 
international agencies during the G-20 Summit on 15 November 2008 that the policy response should be global, consistent and co-ordinated, combining, inter alia , actions to stabilize the financial system, 
the continued provision of liquidity to financial in stitutions (including for international trade), macro-
economic stimulus packages where possible and the cr itical importance of rejecting protectionism and 
keep international markets open.
1 These priorities point to the continued importance,  especially in 
periods of economic crisis, of increasing multilatera l cooperation on trade, finance, macroeconomic 
and development policy-making that lies at the heart of the WTO's Coherence mandate. 
4. A high level of cooperation between the three institutions has been also maintained to 
implement the recommendations made by WTO Ministers in Hong Kong, in December 2005, e.g. 
boosting the WTO's contribution to the Aid-for-Tra de Initiative and enhancing cooperation in the 
areas of trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building, notably under the Enhanced 
Integrated Framework. The WTO has also been work ing in partnership with other inter-governmental 
institutions, including United Nations agencies and regional development banks, whose support is 
important for the successful implementation of the Hong Kong Ministerial mandate. 
II. CONSULTATIONS AND CONTACTS OF SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND STAFF 
5. Senior management consultations and contacts on  the Coherence file intensified in 2008.  
The Director-General kept in close contact with Mr. Strauss-Kahn and Mr. Zoellick, respectively, 
                                                      
1 Drawn from the "Declaration on the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy", 15 
November 2008. WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 2  
 
  throughout the year.  He participated with them on several occasions in international conferences and 
meetings, including the Spring meetings of the International Monetary  and Finance Committee 
(IMFC) and the Development Committee, where he en couraged finance and development ministers to 
support the rapid conclusion of the Doha Round  and emphasized the need to strengthen the 
multilateral trading system, which acts, in periods of financial crises, as a shock absorber between the 
financial and the real sectors of the world economy. He also addressed various aspects of the current 
economic crisis with them and/or  other Heads of international organizations, whether at the UNCTAD 
XII meeting in Accra, at the UN Chief Executive Board meeting, or at the Doha International 
Conference in Financing for Development. These as pects ranged from actions to address the scarcity 
of trade financing, the impact of the conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) on 
correcting distortions on international food mark ets, the need to mobilize aid for trade and 
development finance, and medium-to-long term arch itectural issues related to the reform of global 
governance. At the margins of these meetings, he  addressed further topics subject to on-going 
cooperation, be it the prevention of protectionist pol icies, support of the IMF and World Bank to help 
advance DDA negotiations, and ways in which the thr ee institutions can cooperate  more effectively in 
the provision of trade-related technical assistance, capacity building and training, in particular under 
the Enhanced Integrated Framework.   
6. Throughout the year, the Director-General wo rked closely with Heads of United Nations 
Agencies, the World Bank, IMF, regional develo pment banks (such as the African Development 
Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European  Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the 
Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic De velopment Bank, the Asian Development Bank), 
the Organization for Economic Cooperation a nd Development (OECD), regional economic 
communities and national governments to mobilize r esources and political support for Aid-for-Trade 
to complement the results of the Doha Round. Af ter the regional and global review held in 2007, a 
clearer view of national and regional needs emerge d and a process was starte d to develop projects on 
the ground. In 2008, the Director-General conti nued to connect with major development partners, 
such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Deve lopment Bank (IADB), the Islamic Development 
Bank and many others that have set up Aid-for-Tra de Programmes. In this context, the Director-
General participated in the Ministerial Confer ence in Cambodia, co-org anized by the WTO and 
UNIDO, with a particular focus on LDCs’ role and opportunities under the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. 
In parallel, WTO staff continued their progress with the OECD and other institutions in improving the 
monitoring and evaluation of Aid-for-Trade by de veloping key indicators providing benchmarks to 
measure progress from year to year.  
7. In 2008, the World Bank and the IMF continued to engage constructively with the WTO on 
the implementation of the Doha mandates for the tw o-track treatment of cotton, encompassing trade 
policy and development assistance aspects. In 20 08, the IMF and World Bank updated their key 
contributions as reflected in Part III of the Direct or-General's Evolving Table on Cotton Development 
Assistance (WT/CFMC/6/Rev.4). Their c ontributions were underlined at the 10
th Session of the 
Director-General's Consultative Framework M echanism on Cotton, on 7 November, 2008. WTO 
Members welcomed the updated inputs provided by  the World Bank and the IMF and stressed the 
importance of their continued engagements. 
8. The WTO Secretariat represented the Director-Gen eral at meetings of the Executive Boards 
of the IMF and the World Bank on general and re gional economic and trade policy issues, including 
the formulation of IMF and Bank policies on trad e matters. In 2008, these included in particular 
meetings on the World Economic Outlook and Aid-for-Tr ade. It also included staff visits and contacts 
related to the evaluation by the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the IMF's work on trade policy issues. Likewise, IMF and World Bank senior staff came to the WTO to make detailed 
presentations of some aspects of the World Econom ic Outlook and of the Global Economic Prospects, 
respectively.   WT/TF/COH/S/14 
 Page 3 
 
 
  9. The exchange of views and information on tr ade and trade-related issues is an important 
requirement for greater coherence in policy-making , and the three organizations continue to draw 
extensively on each other's work and expertise.  Many WTO Secretariat documents rely on inputs 
from the IMF and the World Bank on macroeconomic, tr ade, and development issues.  Similarly, the 
IMF and the World Bank use information on trade and trade policies from WTO sources, inter alia  to 
ensure that their policy advice is  consistent with WTO rules. 
10. The WTO Secretariat and the staff of the IMF and the World Bank consult, as necessary, on 
issues of possible inconsistency between measur es under discussion with a common Member and that 
Member's obligations under the WTO Agreement or , in the case of the IMF, under its Articles of 
Agreement.  Staff take care to ensure that cooperation neither encroach es on institutional mandates 
nor leads to cross-conditionality or extra conditions on WTO Members. 
III. COOPERATION ON POLICY ANALYSIS, SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH  
A. POLICY ANALYSIS AND SURVEILLANCE  
11. Policy analysis and global economic surveillance are core activities of the WTO, the IMF and 
the World Bank.  Both the IMF and the World Bank pa y attention to trade policies in this context.  
Trade policy reform has featured as an element of the growth agenda in the two main vehicles for 
IMF policy analysis and surveillance, the Worl d Economic Outlook (WEO) a nd regular Article IV 
consultations with individual member countries.  Trade topics covered in the WEO have included in 
recent years the Doha Round, the impact of Chin a's emergence as a trade power, and the relationship 
between trade and financial integration.  The Ap ril 2008 WEO featured a chapter on "globalization, 
commodity prices, and developing countries", bringing interesting insights about how the 
liberalization of trade and finance affects growth (Box 5.1).  
12. The IMF examines trade policies in its Article IV  surveillance as part of its overall economic 
assessment of Member countries.  The IMF looks in  particular at trade barriers of high-income 
countries and their impact on poorer countries, trade -related macro-vulnerabilities, and regional trade 
initiatives.  Likewise, the World Bank is devoting r esources to examining trade policy reforms in the 
context of its country programmes and as part of its overall assessment of the gains of an ambitious 
DDA.   
13. Staff cooperation between the WTO and the IMF on monitoring of trade policies is conducted 
informally. Careful attention is paid to ensure  that such cooperation leads neither to cross-
conditionality nor to divulging c onfidential information, consiste nt with the terms of the 1996 
cooperation agreements.   
14. The WTO Director-General has created a Task Force aimed at examining the impact of the 
economic crisis on world trade.  A first informal discussion of the trade aspects of the crisis by the 
Trade Policy Review Body has contributed to the sh aping of this exercise. The Secretariat is to 
produce regular reports for Members on economic policy measures that can impact positively or 
negatively on international trade, thereby providing a platform for discussion, without prejudging the 
rights and obligations of Members under the various WTO Agreements.  The report will also review 
trends in global trade and trade finance flows, two other variables that can be impacted by the global 
economic downturn. 
15. Earlier, the IMF has also been  involved in the reshaping of its surveillance of economic 
policies with a view to make it more effective, to  meet the demands of integrated financial markets 
and large-scale private capital flows.  The initial topic of multilateral consultation with its member 
governments was how to address global imbalances while maintaining robust global growth.  Large 
imbalances are deemed by some to pose a threat to the continuation of gl obal economic expansion of WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 4  
 
  GDP and international trade.  The multilaterilization at the IMF of the dialogue on global imbalances 
and the analysis of its underlying causes and impact  helps foster a more cooperative dialogue based 
on improved and more transparent analysis, and en courages the acceptance of broad policy directions 
recommended by each country.  The decision by the IM F Board of Directors in June 2007 to revise its 
1977 Decision on Surveillance over Exchange Rate  Policy was also an important step in the 
strengthening of IMF surveillance, of interest not  only to the IMF but also to the WTO which has a 
mandate to achieve greater harmony between fi nancial, exchange rate and trade policies.
2   
16. In 2008, the International Monetary and Fina ncial Committee (IMFC) of the IMF and the  
G-20 leaders have emphasized the need for the IM F to strengthen macro-financial surveillance In 
doing so, the IMF will be working closely with othe r international organizati ons – one such partner 
being the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) and partne r institutions. In October 2008, the IMFC asked 
the IMF to take the lead in analyzing the comp lex chain of causes and effects that led the world 
economy into the current downturn – a call reaffirmed  by the G-20. Work will focus on: (a) drawing 
lessons and policy recommendations for macroeconom ic policy and regulation from the current crisis 
(b) improving early warning system of systemic and country vulnerabilities (c) assessing the impact 
of the crisis on low-income countries of overl apping shocks caused by the global financial and 
commodity crises.3 
17. The increased focus of the IMF on global financ ial surveillance is of interest to the WTO.4  
As indicated above, the WTO Ministerial Declarati on on Coherence states that "more orderly (...) 
economic and financial conditions should contribute towards the expansion of trade, sustainable 
growth and development, and the correction of ex ternal imbalances".  In the light of financial 
instabilities experienced by world financial markets since 2007, the WTO has an interest in remaining 
fully informed about developments in the financ ial sphere, because of its potential spill-over on the 
availability and cost of trade finance and its impact on trade and economic growth. 
B. AVAILABILITY OF TRADE FINANCE  
18. About 80 to 90 per cent of international trade tak es place on a cash or short-term credit basis.  
Simple and stand-by letters of credit, overdraft s, open account operations, bills of exchange and 
bankers' acceptances are routinely used in North-Nort h trade.  However, international banks adopted 
more stringent lending standards for developing countries and emerging economies after the Asian 
and East European financial crises of 1997-99.  Fees and rates on what is normally inexpensive 
finance were raised, country limits were reduced and tenors (maturities) were cut.  At that time, the 
WTO, IMF and World Bank formed an informal group of experts from the regional development 
banks (RDBs), credit insurance agencies and intern ational banks, who are all involved in providing 
trade finance facilities of one kind or another, to seek  options to deal with th e scarcity of trade finance 
during the crisis and with what appeared to be a more general trend of large international banks 
withdrawing from smaller developi ng country markets.  Over the years since then, the WTO has 
                                                      
2 Section 2 of the WTO Ministerial Declaration on Coherence states that: "Successful cooperation in 
each area of economic policy c ontributes to progress in other areas.  Greater exchange rate stability, based on 
more orderly underlying economic and financial conditions, should contribute towards the expansion of trade, 
sustainable growth and development, and the correction of  external imbalances." Sec tion 5 also indicates that: 
"The inter-linkages between the different aspects of eco nomic policy require that the international institutions 
with responsibilities in each of these areas follow consistent and mutua lly supportive policies.   The World Trade 
Organization should therefore pursue and develop cooperation with the international organizations responsible 
for monetary and financial matters, while respecting the mandate, the confidentiality requirements and the necessary autonomy in decision-making procedures of each institution, and avoiding the imposition on 
governments of cross-conditionality or additional conditions". 
3 IMF Survey online, 07 January 2009: "finan cial crisis shapes IMF work priorities". 
4 IMF Survey, 15 January 2008: "on-going market tu rbulences; the IMF intensifies work on sub-prime 
fall out".  WT/TF/COH/S/14 
 Page 5 
 
 
  hosted meetings of the expert group periodically to discuss issues ranging from contingencies to 
possible further crises, longer-terms solutions to boost the availability of trade finance in developing 
countries (notably under the Aid-for-Trade umbr ella), promoting the availability of market 
information, and cooperation between the various  institutions engaged in the supply of trade 
financing. 
19. The effects of the current banking and financ ial crisis on international trade are being 
increasingly felt through the tightening of the market fo r trade finance in all countries, in particular 
developing countries.  Both Members and the Direct or-General have stepped up efforts to encourage 
credit suppliers to keep credit lines for trade open. The expert group was convened by the Director-
General in April 2008, as it became evident that ma rket gaps affected particular segments of the 
markets and regions. A Secretariat report on th e meeting was provided to the Working Group on 
Trade, Debt and Finance (WT/WGTDF/W/38).  
20. Following that meeting, the Director-General wr ote to the Presidents of the World Bank and 
the RDBs to draw their attention to the difficultie s that some international banks were having in 
maintaining or increasing their trade finance fac ilities, and the difficulties that some developing 
countries were experiencing in accessing trade finance at  affordable rates.  In response, the heads of 
these organizations pledged to expand further th eir programmes aimed at providing guarantees and 
mitigating risk for trade finance, so as to facilitate its supply.  The Director-General wrote also to the 
General Manager of the Bank for In ternational Settlements (BIS) to dr aw his attention to concerns 
expressed by some international banks that interna tional banking standards a nd regulations should not 
penalize trade finance activities, particularly for de veloping countries, concerns that he noted were 
shared also by some WTO Members.  The General Manager of the BIS provided technical elements 
of response to some of these concerns. 
21. In the second part of 2008, the delegation of  Brazil drew attention to the difficulties 
encountered by its exporters in accessing trade fina nce facilities in a communication to the Working 
Group on Trade and Finance (WGTDF) (WT/WGTDF/W/ 39).  Egypt also raised the importance of 
this issue for developing countries and LDCs.  At  the informal TNC meeting of 10 October 2008 and 
the General Council meeting of 14 October, a numb er of other developing country Members voiced 
similar concerns on behalf of their own traders. 
22. Hence, the Director-General convened a mee ting of the expert group of trade-finance 
providers on 12 November (including private ba nks, international financ ial institutions, regional 
development banks, the Berne Union and some of its  members), to assess the problem and to look for 
solutions. As to the diagnosis, it became clear that the tightening of global liquidity in money markets, 
which increased in September, had further affected the supply of trade credit by the main banks in the 
world. Each credit department competing for a redu ced amount of liquidity, international banks were 
not able to supply as much credit as demanded by trad ers at affordable rates. Moreover, the sharp 
deterioration of global economic prospects was tr iggering a general re-assessment of credit risk, 
entailing a sharp increase in the cost of credit, insurance and guarantees for trade operations with 
developing countries and LDCs.  All in all, a shorta ge of liquidity and a disproportionate aversion to 
risk led to regular shortfalls in available trade finance supplied by the private sector – according to 
private sector sources to approximately US$25 billion in  November.  The cost of trade credit has been 
tripling in some emerging economies, with scarcity of  supply gaining ground in the developing world. 
Difficulties to open letters of credit were reported in an increasing number of countries, and short-
term prospects were not encouraging according to market sources.  As to solutions, several options 
were presented by market players, but the most cons ensual was for international and regional leaders, 
in particular public-backed institutions, to shoulder some of the risk through co-financing and thereby 
entice private lenders back to this market. WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 6  
 
  23. The message that came from the WTO Confer ence on trade finance was heard by the  
G-20 Summit and translated into action. The m obilization of export credit agencies and regional 
development banks was considerably boosted. Causal  effects are to be found in the mobilization of 
OECD and non-OECD country export credit agencies, which are stepping in more actively, including 
by way of regional cooperation (such as in Asia), to support internati onal and intra-regional trade.   
24. Recent measures include:  
• Measures to enhance risk mitig ation programmes offered by re gional development  banks and 
multilateral financial institutions (the Asian De velopment Bank, the In ternational Financial 
Corporation of the World Bank Group, the E BRD, the Inter-American Development Bank) 
under their trade finance facilitation facilities. A ll international financia l institutions operating 
such facilities have seen their cap acity to shoulder trade fina nce risks of commercial sector 
operators roughly double, from some $4 billion to $8 billion at any point in time (hence 
potentially financing $30 billion of trade that would otherwise not take place). 
  
• Since November 2008, many export credit agencies, including those of Hong Kong, China; 
Japan; France; Germany; the United States and Chile took specific measures with respect to 
the financing of credit and insurance of trad e of local SMEs, and in some cases to support 
regional supply-chain operations (Asian Memb ers of the Berne Union). In particular, the 
APEC Summit announced the establishment of an Asia-Pacific Trad e Insurance Network
 to 
facilitate intra- and extra- regional flows a nd investment through reinsurance cooperation 
among export credit agencies in the region. Japan's NEXI is setting itself as the leader and main underwriter of this collective re-insur ance system. In December, 2008, China and the 
United States  announced that their two export-import banks will make available an additional 
US$20 billion for trade finance, particularly for creditworthy importers in developing 
economies, in an effort to support trade flows during this period of financial turmoil.  The 
United States Exim-bank had previously exte nded a $2.9 billion credit line to finance trade 
with the Republic of Korea.  
   
• Central banks are also stepping in to provide fo reign exchange to importers and their banks, 
particularly in countries which have significan t foreign exchange reserves. The central banks 
of Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and Korea have put in place various schemes aimed at supplying foreign exchange, which dried up in  the inter-bank market, to trade operators. 
However such facilities are not available to other countries which do not have access to 
foreign exchange reserves. 
 
25. Awareness of the issue of availability of trade finance, in particular for developing country 
trade, has become a regular feature of most inte rnational economic policy meetings, including the G-
20, the APEC summit, the USA-China "strategic dialogue", and preparations for the April 2009 G-20 Summit.   Despite these efforts, a further boost is needed fo r the commercial sector to be able to meet 
demand, particularly in developing countries, in a si tuation of rapid deterioration of risk perception. 
Inter-governmental agencies are doing their utmost to mobilize all actors to avoid a drying up of trade 
finance, which, if it were to occur, would accelerate the contraction of trade and output in the only part of the word (developing countries) that is e xpected to sustain world growth in 2009. The gap 
between supply and demand could be anywhere be tween $100 and $300 billion, particularly for the 
financing of developing country trade. The World Bank Group has worked hard to launch a liquidity 
pool to be operated by the International Financ ial Corporation, that would co-finance trade 
transactions directly with comme rcial financial institu tions, on a market basis. Should the multi-
billion dollar liquidity pool be in place soon, it will support the already significant trade finance package that International Financial Institutions ha ve managed to develop in only a few months, to 
tackle the problem of loss of confidence among co mmercial actors in the trade finance market.   WT/TF/COH/S/14 
 Page 7 
 
 
  C. RESEARCH  
26. IMF staff have prepared several research pape rs in support of various aspects of the Doha 
Round, including on issues related to market acc ess for developing-country exports.  Research 
prepared at the request of the WTO has included analysis on balance-of-payments safeguards, export 
subsidies, the financing of losses from preference er osion, fiscal aspects of tariff reform, trade policy 
conditionality, aid-for-trade and the link betw een exchange rate volatility and trade.   
27. Work Bank analytical work and research covers a wide range of multilateral trade issues, with 
a particular focus on agricultural reform (includi ng cotton), non-tariff barriers and trade facilitation 
from a development perspective.  In 2008, the WTO Secretariat and World Bank staff provided 
support to the Group of Eminent Persons (includi ng senior management of the WTO and World 
Bank) working on the incidence of non-tariff barri ers worldwide.  The WTO Secretariat also 
contributed to the World Bank's annual monitoring exercise on achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Important research publications in 2008 included, inter alia , the "implications of 
Higher Global Food Prices for Poverty in Low-In come Countries", "Focus: the Doha Development 
Agenda", and "Why Trade Costs Matter to Africa".
5  The World Bank has complemented its 
expanded work programme on trade w ith an outreach programme aimed at  providing developing 
countries with new opportunities to discuss how the DDA can support development-oriented trade 
reforms, informing them of the nature and scope  of World Bank support for technical assistance and 
investment in trade-related projects and sensitizi ng them to the gains from trade facilitation reforms.6   
D. INFORMATION AND DATA EXCHANGES  
28. The WTO Secretariat provides the IMF and World Bank staff with access, on a confidential 
basis, to the Integrated Database and to schedul es of commitments of WTO Members.  The IMF and 
World Bank have online access to the two data base s.  More generally, the IMF and the World Bank 
use information on trade, trade measures and relate d issues from WTO sources, particularly the Trade 
Policy Reviews (TPRs). 
29. Subject to the same confidentiality requirem ent, the Fund makes available to the WTO 
Secretariat the publication files of the Internati onal Financial Statistics,  Balance of Payments 
Statistics, Government Financial Statistics, and Di rection of Trade Statistics.  The IMF staff also 
makes available to the WTO Secretariat historical data and aggregate projections in the WEO.  Favourable consideration is given to additional requests pertaining to these databases, as well as to 
requests for projections of individual country data. 
30. Under the WTO/IMF cooperation agreement, the IMF makes available to the WTO, for the 
confidential use of the WTO Secretariat, electronic copies of IMF staff reports and related background 
staff papers on Article IV consultations and on the use of Fund resources for common members and 
on Fund members seeking accession to the WTO, subj ect to the consent of the member concerned.
7  
These documents contain details of the IMF's tr ade policy advice, which are used by the WTO 
Secretariat for reference purposes, notably in the course of the preparation of Trade Policy Review 
(TPR) reports.  Trade policy information based on IM F documentation is now available to Secretariat 
staff through an electronic data base. 
                                                      
5 More details can be obtained at http://econ.worldbank.org/ 
6 Recent material and publications on trade facilitati on issues, trade logistics a dvisory services, national 
logistics strategies and the logistics performance indi cator are available at www. worldbank.org/tradefacilitation. 
7 The IMF communicates to the WTO its Executive Bo ard Decisions regarding exchange restrictions 
maintained by WTO Members under Article VIII of the Fu nd's Articles of Agreement.  These are circulated as 
restricted documents under the sym bol WT/TF/IMF/-.  In 2008, the WT O received two such communications. WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 8  
 
  31. The World Bank provides the WTO Secretariat access to the Bank's Economic and Social 
Database, as well as to the Statistical Annex of th e Global Economic Prospects and the Developing 
Countries.  Software developed at the Bank provides a powerful tool to better analyze the consequences of the detailed proposals being consider ed in the Doha negotiations.  In its support on 
market access issues, the WTO Secr etariat has been making use of this software – which is offered to 
WTO Members free of charge – to analyze tariff and trade data. 
IV. TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING 
A. T
RADE -RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING  
32. The IMF and the World Bank have considerable e xperience and expertise to share in the area 
of trade-related technical assistance and capac ity building, and they provide support to WTO 
Members through their own country programmes as well as through their participation in WTO 
technical assistance and training activities. The IMF is engaged in technical assistance and capacity 
building at different levels, from financing to po licy design, the dissemination of standards, and 
training.  Its Article IV consultation process with its member countries provides an important channel 
for its technical assistance activities.   The main focus of its trade-related technical work is customs 
modernization and tariff policy reform.  On custom s modernization, the focus has shifted towards 
"strategic technical assistance" – i.e. providing the overall framework for reform and continuing 
oversight, while leaving more detailed aspects for other donors to support.  On tariffs, the focus 
typically is on tax and fiscal policies.  An impor tant part of the IMF's trade-related technical 
assistance work is provided through its regional technical assistance centres in Africa, the Middle 
East, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean.  
33. Trade-related technical assistance has expande d considerably in the World Bank, with the 
appointment of trade coordinators in each of its  six regional departments who ensure a strategic 
approach to capacity building.  The World Bank Institute (WBI) is the principal provider of training and among its objectives are to assist its member governments in:  (i) the development of sound national trade policy;  (ii) their capacity to par ticipate effectively in the WTO;  and (iii) their 
understanding of the benefits and costs of increa sed openness.  The Bank's trade-related diagnostic 
work also continues to expand, with more than 80 per cent of it now taking place outside the context 
of the Integrated Framework 
B. T
RADE FACILITATION  
34. The World Bank and the IMF direct a share of  their trade-related activities towards trade 
facilitation – the IMF through its work on customs administration and the World Bank through an 
expanding programme of technical advice, capacity -building and support for trade facilitation reforms 
aimed at reducing transportation a nd logistics-related costs and c onnecting countries to global supply 
chains in an effective, reliable and timely manner. In addition, it is working on a new series of tools, 
indicators and analytical approaches to help countri es identify and tackle trade facilitation bottlenecks 
and obstacles.  
35. Through its Trade Facilitation Initiative, the Bank has developed several tools to help 
improve the quality of its projects aimed at disseminating best practices across the different regions.  It has also increased staffing in critical areas such as customs, port reform and transport logistics and 
regulation.  It has also complemented its opera tional activities with a programme designed to help 
developing countries better participate in the WTO Trade Facilitation negotiations by assisting them 
to make informed decisions, including through the creation of regional networks of experts to advise 
on negotiating proposals and issues.  The Bank estimates that its lending operations for trade 
facilitation activities – including institution building,  physical infrastructure and trade-financing  in the 
last three years made up more than of one third of its total trade lending (some $4.6 billion).  WT/TF/COH/S/14 
 Page 9 
 
 
  36. The World Bank's technical assistance activities in support of the WTO negotiations on trade 
facilitation have focused on helping member c ountries identify and assess their requirements for 
implementing trade facilitation reforms.  In 2007,  a comprehensive needs assessment programme was 
developed through cooperation between the WTO, the IMF, the World Customs Organization, the 
OECD and UNCTAD, in response to WTO Me mbers' requests for support regarding the 
implementation of trade facilitation measures, remain ing gaps and related assi stance needs. It was 
continued and intensified in 2008. Fifty-five needs assessments were conducted by the end of that 
year, with another 11 scheduled for the beginning of 2009 (along with 18 countries having submitted 
initial request but for which assessments are not yet scheduled). 
37. The World Bank continues to support a range of constituencies for trade facilitation reform, 
including though its support for the Global Fac ilitation Partnership (GFP) for Transportation and 
Trade, an initiative associating all interested partie s, public and private, na tional and international, 
with a view to achieve significant improvements in  transport and trade facilitation in developing and 
least-developed countries.  
C. DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING DATABASE  
38. The IMF, the World Bank and the WTO contribut e to the Doha Development Agenda Trade 
Capacity Building Database (http://tcbdb.wto.org) wh ich is jointly managed by the WTO and the 
OECD and gives information on activities provided by  bilateral donors and multilateral agencies.  In 
the first few years of its existence, this pooling of data has allowed for the possibility of higher 
degrees of coordination and coherence to be achieve d and has provided the means to identify areas 
where additional efforts can be applied.  Improve ments in the Trade Capacity Building Database are 
currently ongoing.  Also, the WTO Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) has held 
a series of consultations in the course of 2008 with  partner institutions to improve cooperation on 
trade-related technical assistance, starting, inter alia , with a greater involvement of the World Bank 
Group in Regional Trade Policy Courses, as of 2009. 
D. SUPPORTING WTO  ACCESSION  
39. The World Bank continues to provide assistance to countries acceding to the WTO.  It has 
developed a Policy Note discussing the most common issues that are critical to ensuring a pro-
development outcome from the WTO accession process.  It offers information to the country teams of 
acceding countries on key developments and directions  in the discussions, their potential impact, and 
areas where further work (including technical assist ance) may be needed.  The World Bank is also 
working with international partners to bring toge ther negotiators from developing countries in fora 
where they can share information and experiences. 
E. THE INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDC S) 
40. The Integrated Framework (IF) is the mechanism av ailable to LDCs to use trade – in the wide 
sense of producing and selling abroad -  as one of thei r policy instruments of national development.  It 
is an international partnership,   through which the IMF, ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP, the World Bank and 
WTO (the IF Core Agencies) combine their effort s with those of least developed countries, donors 
and other development partners to respond to the tr ade development needs of LDCs.  The IF has two 
main objectives:  to mainstream trade into nationa l development plans, such as the PRSP, and to 
facilitate the coordinated delivery of trade-related assistance.  Th is will assist LDCs in addressing 
trade policy issues and related supply-side constr aints, and generally in becoming full and active 
players and beneficiaries of the multilateral trading system.  It consists of four phases, namely:  
(i) awareness-building on the importance of trade fo r development;  (ii) preparation of a Diagnostic 
Trade Integration Study (DTIS) to identify constraints to traders, sectors of greatest export potential and a plan of action for better integration into th e global trading system (the "Action Matrix");  WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 10  
 
  (iii) integration of the plan of action into the national development plan, such as the PRSP;  and 
(iv) implementation of the action plan in pa rtnership with the development partners.  
41. The EIF is designed to be the overarching m echanism available to LDCs to map out the 
totality of their trade priorities ( upstream and dow n stream) and approach their donor community to 
seek support and necessary financing.  In that cont ext, the year 2008 saw an increased awareness on 
the close link between the Aid for Trade initiativ e and the EIF for LDCs, the latter being the 
mechanism available to LDCs to match supply an d demand for support and funds targeted at trade-
related programs and projects and to tap into the mu ch bigger (bilateral and multilateral ) ODA aid for 
trade funding, over and above that available in the EIF's own Trust Fund.  
42. To date, 45 countries (of a total of 49) have become beneficiaries under the IF.  Of the 45 
beneficiaries, 34 have completed the diagnostic st age and are now implementing the action matrix.  
Some are in the process of / have completed updati ng their DTIS.   An additional ten LDCs are at 
various stages of drafting their DTIS.   
43. At the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December 2005, Ministers provided their 
political support to enhance the EIF, based on th e following elements:  (i) provide increased, 
predictable and additional funding on a multi-year b asis; (ii) strengthen the IF in-country, including 
through mainstreaming trade into national developm ent plans and poverty reduction strategies;  more 
effective follow-up to diagnostic trade integration studies and implementation of action matrices;  and 
achieving greater and more effective coordinatio n amongst donors and IF stakeholders, including 
beneficiaries;  and (iii) improve the IF decisi on-making and management structure to ensure an 
effective and timely delivery of the incr eased financial resources and programmes. 
44. In 2008, the stakeholders in the IF, the LDCs, the core Agencies and donors alike,  
successfully continued their intensive work to enha nce the IF,  pursuant to the Recommendations of 
the Task Force on an Enhanced IF (document WT/I FSC/W/15 and Correction 1).  In fact, the year 
2008 saw significant progress in getting the EIF fully up and running.    
- Mrs Dorothy Tembo (former Director of Fore ign Trade and IF Focal Point in Zambia) was 
recruited as the Executive Director of the Executiv e Secretariat of the EIF and took up office in 
October, 2008, signalling the establishment of the Executive Secretariat – administratively housed in 
the WTO;  
- A new EIF Trust Fund manager, UNOPS, was selected and became operational;  - A number of LDCs started to draw up proj ect proposals to be submitted under the new 
structures of the EIF;  
- Donors started to transfer their pledged funds to the EIF.   
- Work to set up a monitoring and evaluation fra mework as well as to sharpen some of the rules 
and procedures progressed in 2008. The full benefit of  this ground work should be felt in the form of 
greater efficiency of the IF framework in the course of 2009 and beyond.  
F. WTO
 INSTITUTE FOR TRAINING AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION (ITTC) 
45. The World Bank contributes to the three-month WTO Trade Policy Courses held in Geneva 
through presentations by its staff and dissemination of its publications to course participants.  IMF 
staff also contribute to the courses.  As part of strengthening its Geneva office and its commitment to 
supporting the trade agenda, the World Bank has poste d a staff member to Geneva to coordinate  WT/TF/COH/S/14 
 Page 11 
 
 
  training activities with the ITTC.  The World Bank also contributes staff resources to the three-month 
WTO Trade Policy Courses held overseas. 
G. THE STANDARDS AND TRADE DEVELOPMENT FACILITY  
46. The Standards and Trade Development Facility (S TDF) was established in 2002 by the FAO, 
OIE, WHO, WTO and the World Bank.  Managed by the WTO, the STDF is both a coordinating and 
a financing mechanism.  It aims to increase coopera tion between relevant institutions in the area of 
international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standa rds, to improve coordination in the provision of 
SPS-related technical assistance, and to develop in to a centre of good practice.  Grant financing for 
project development and project im plementation is available for public  and private organizations in 
developing countries seeking to comply with SPS standa rds and hence gain or maintain market access 
for their exports.  The STDF Medium Term St rategy, which runs from 2007 to 2011, and its 
subsequent Operating Plans for 2007 and 2008-09,  place emphasis on the STDF's coordination role 
at different levels.   Increasingly, STDF meetings act as a forum for the sharing and dissemination of 
information on SPS-related technical assistance activiti es and their overall impact and effectiveness.    
A series of workshops will be organized by the STDF in 2008 and 2009 back-to-back with the SPS 
Committee on specific thematic topics, such as SPS capacity evaluation tools and good practice. 
Workshops will benefit from the i nput of partner institutions in this area, such as the World Bank 
Group and UNIDO. 
47. The STDF runs regular regiona l consultations to examine SPS capacity building needs and 
responses and identify good practice in three pilot re gions, i.e. Central America, East Africa, and a 
group of countries of the Greater Mekong Delta su b-region.  Reviews of SPS capacity evaluation 
studies and SPS-related technical assistance provided to each region were presented and discussed at 
workshops organized as an integral part of the broa der Aid-for-Trade initiative.  This research work  
continued in 2008 and involved working with donor s and beneficiaries to prioritize needs, and 
identify good practice and opportunities for futu re assistance programmes - including project 
development.  Wherever possible, synergies w ith the Aid-for-Trade initiative are exploited. 
48. At the national level, further emphasis is bei ng put on coordination with  existing and planned 
donor activities, ensuring synergies with other ongo ing partner programmes, and with the EIF in 
relation to DTIS elaboration, upda te and development of actions on th e basis of DTIS action matrices.  
Cooperation with these other initiatives is essentia l to STDF's coordination role and to the 
achievement of the STDF target to devote 40 per cent  of Facility project grant resources to LDCs and 
other low income economies.  One key element in th is regard is providing technical assistance to 
LDCs to meet SPS requirements, in particular through the development of projects that address 
priority issues identified under the IF process.  In line with the Medium Term Strategy, greater 
reliance is being placed on the use of project pr eparation grants to provide a basis for donor 
interventions and as a vehicle for mobilizing funds  for projects developed under the STDF umbrella. 
H. JOINT VIENNA INSTITUTE  
49. The WTO co-sponsors the Joint Vienna Institute  (JVI) together with the IMF, the World 
Bank, the BIS, OECD, EBRD, and the Austrian Government.  Certain programmes of the JVI are also supported by a number of other bilate ral donors.  The main aim of the Institute is to provide training 
support  to countries in transition in order to ease  the transition from centrally-planned to market-
based economies.  The countries that have recently joined the European Union have been "graduated" 
from the programmes which are now more oriented to wards Southern Europe and the CIS countries.  
The WTO Secretariat has been responsible for the tw o-week segment on Trade Policy which is part of 
a longer course in Applied Economic Policy, and given by all sponsors of the JVI.  The segment is 
normally  given twice a year and  occurs in two-week-long sessions.  In addition, the WTO organizes WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 12  
 
  each year in Vienna  its own seminars on various  WTO matters – typically on WTO agreements and 
negotiations.  The WTO continues to provide support as a Contributing Member.  
I. T
RADE AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE   
50. Since 1997, the WTO and the World Bank Institute  (WBI) have maintained a shared website 
providing development-related trade information.  Th e site also provides a point of contact for trade 
officials in developing and transition economies, in cluding officials who have participated in WTO 
and World Bank training courses. 
V. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 
51. In recent years, the IMF and the World Bank have announced new initiatives to increase the 
technical and financial support they are able to provide to developing countries during the trade 
negotiations and in the period of economic adjustment  that will follow when implementing the results.  
52. Beyond its regular programmes, the IMF announced the creation of its Trade Integration 
Mechanism (TIM) in 2004 and the launch of its  Exogenous Shocks Facility  (ESF) in 2005.   
53. The TIM aims to help its member countries adjust  to shocks that emanate from the process of 
multilateral trade liberalization.  It was designed to help mitigate concerns by many developing 
countries that implementation of WTO agreements mi ght give rise to temporary balance-of-payments 
shortfalls – through the erosion of tariff preferences, adverse changes in the terms of trade of net food 
importers, or the expiration of quotas under the WTO's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). 
Since 2005, only three countries made use of the fa cilities, namely the Republic of Madagascar, the 
Dominican Republic, and Bangladesh. However, no-one has requested or used the facility since 2006, 
despite the fact that under the fa cility, consideration of use of Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative 
(MDRI) resources for cotton-producing countries is also possible.  
54. The World Bank's "Doha Development Initiativ e", launched at the Cancún Ministerial 
Conference in 2003, aims to assist poor countries to take advantage of new market opportunities and offset any adverse initial impacts of trade reform  resulting from the Doha Round.  The World Bank's 
trade-related operations have also been growing,  as reflected in increased investment lending for 
trade-related projects.  Lending commitments for trade have increased from $0.8 billion in FY1998-
2000, to $1.4 billion in FY2001-2003 and to $3. 9 billion in FY2004-2006. Further increases are 
expected in FY2007-09 (over $4 billion), after the successful replenishment of the IDA Fund achieved 
in December 2007, but no data are yet available for 2008. 
VI. AID-FOR-TRADE 
55. The Aid-for-Trade initiative continued to be an important focus of the WTO's coherence 
activities in 2008.  The emphasis shifted from awareness-raising to implementation, with the WTO 
working closely with partner agencies to mon itor progress in advancing concrete strategies and 
initiatives. 
56. In his 2008 Aid-for-Trade "Roadmap"
8, the Director-General outlined a number of steps to 
address three main themes that emerged from di scussions at the November 2007 Global Aid-for-
Trade Review: encouraging greater developing-count ry ownership of the Aid-for-Trade initiative;  
strengthening evaluation and monitoring; an d shifting focus from awareness-raising to 
implementation.  One of the conclusions of the 20 07 Global Review was that monitoring should focus 
not only on Aid-for-Trade flows (i.e. quantitative assessm ent), but also on impacts or results of such 
                                                      
8 WT/COMTD/AFT/W/6.  WT/TF/COH/S/14 
 Page 13 
 
 
  flows (i.e. qualitative assessments).  A work prog ramme was launched in early 2008 to identify 
indicators or benchmarks that could best measur e the results of Aid-for-Trade expenditures and 
encourage mutual accountability between donor and r ecipient countries. A Symposium on Monitoring 
and Evaluation was held on 15-16 September 2008 to identify and assess suitable indicators – using 
existing methodology where possible.   
57. Based on consultations with delegations in th e context of the WTO Committee on Trade and 
Development (CTD), the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and Working Party of the Trade Committee, and other fora, efforts were also made to update and streamline the existing 
donor and partner-country questionnaires.  The aim w as to elicit more precise information about trade 
development strategies, the gaps between needs and actual support provided, and ways to reduce  
Aid-for-Trade transaction costs.   Responses to the questionnaires will be reported at the 2
nd Global 
Aid-for-Trade Review to be held in mid-2009. 
58. In his 2008 Aid-for-Trade Roadmap, the Di rector-General also proposed that the 2nd Global 
Aid-for-Trade Review showcase a number of national and sub-regional Aid-for-Trade reviews – to be 
held in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Asia – to demonstrate how Aid-for-Trade 
strategies could progress and were progressing, and to  create incentives for othe rs to follow.  Efforts 
in 2008 focused on establishing a list of candidate  countries/sub-regions, identifying a lead 
agency/donor for each review, contacting host c ountries/regional economic commissions to gauge 
readiness and political support, and identifying key priorities/projects and desired outcomes.  The 
reviews are intended to provide a focal point for co llective efforts and a target by which progress in 
Aid-for-Trade can be measured and evaluated.  Each  review will be structured in three parts:  
assessing or "road-testing" Aid-for-Trade plans;  identifying priorities;  and agreeing on how these 
plans and priorities should be implemented. The r esults of such reviews will be profiled in the  
2nd Global Aid-for-Trade Review.  
VII. BROAD INTERNATIONAL COHERENCE: WTO COOPERATION WITH OTHER 
INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS 
59. Coherence in global economic policy-making go es beyond the WTO's formal and specific 
cooperation arrangements with the IMF and the Wo rld Bank.  Since WTO Members are bound by all 
their international obligations simultaneously and cumu latively, it is crucial that the interpretation and 
application of the provisions of the WTO take into  account Members' other international rights and 
obligations.  In addition, there are WTO provisions  which explicitly provide that measures complying 
with standards and norms developed in other sp ecific international forum are presumed to be 
compatible with WTO.  Through its councils and committees, the WTO maintains extensive 
institutional relations with several other internati onal organizations; there are some 140 international 
organizations that have observer status in WTO bodi es.  The WTO is also participating as observer in 
the work of several international organizations.  In all, the WTO Secretariat maintains working 
relations with almost 200 international organizatio ns in activities ranging from statistics, research, 
standard-setting, and technical assistance and traini ng.  Although the extent of such cooperation 
varies, coordination and coherence between the work  of the WTO and that of other international 
organizations continue to evolve so as to assist Me mbers in the operation of their economic policies.   
60. The WTO has a cooperation agreement with UNCTAD for matters under their respective 
jurisdiction including their supervisory functions over  the International Trade Centre (ITC).  During 
2008, the WTO continued to work very closely with UNCTAD and the ITC, for example on the 
management of the EIF and on the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. Furthermore, the Director-General and 
senior management addressed, and participated ac tively to, several UNCTAD high-level events in 
2008, including the UNCTAD XII Conference, held in  Accra (Ghana) in April, the UNCTAD's 55th 
session of the Trade and Development Board in September, and the UNCTAD's High Level Multi 
Stakeholder Meeting on Cotton in December.  At staff level, there are many areas in which the two WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 14  
 
  organizations are cooperating, inter alia , economic research (the Economic Research and Statistics 
Division is contributing to the substantive work  of the Group of Eminent Persons on Non-Tariff 
Barriers (NTB)), and Trade Facilitation activities.  
61.  Although there is no formal agreement between the WHO and the WTO, the WHO has 
observer status in the SPS and TBT Committees, and it has ad hoc observer status in the TRIPS and 
GATS Councils.  In 2008, there has been on-going colla boration between the two Secretariats in the 
sectors relating to health and SPS measures, and continui ng joint efforts to bring attention to the need 
for policy coherence between trade and health matters at both the globa l and national level. 
62. The WTO Secretariat also undertakes joint ac tivities with the international bodies which 
develop standards for food safety, plant and an imal health.  Thus, the FAO/WHO Joint Codex 
Alimentarius Commission, International Plant Pr otection Convention and the World Organization for 
Animal Health have observer status in the SPS Co mmittee, and the WTO participates as an observer 
in the meetings of these bodies.  Cooperation has been further reinforced through the provision of 
scientific evidence in dispute settlement proceedings  of the WTO and through participation in joint 
technical assistance activities, including throu gh the Standards and Trade Development Facility 
(STDF). In 2008, the Director-General addressed the food crisis issue on several occasion, notably at 
the UN-sponsored High-Level Conference on World Food Security held in June in Rome. 
63. In the 2001 Doha Ministerial Declaration, Ministers welcomed the WTO's continued 
cooperation with UNEP and other inter-governmental  environmental organizations and encouraged 
efforts to promote cooperation between the WTO and relevant internati onal environmental and 
developmental organizations.
9  The WTO Secretariat has a cooperation arrangement with UNEP 
extending into areas such as reciprocal representation at meetings, information-sharing, joint research 
and technical assistance. Under this cooperation fr amework, in 2008 both institutions worked on a 
joint study on environment, climate change and tr ade which will be launche d in May 2009. The WTO 
Secretariat is an observer of the Governing C ouncil of UNEP and attends  annual Council meetings; 
UNEP is an observer of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) and is also invited to 
attend meetings of the Committee on Trade and En vironment in Special Session (CTESS) on an ad 
hoc meeting-by-meeting basis.10  There is also contact in broader settings; for example, the WTO 
Secretariat attends meetings of the UN Environm ent Management Group (EMG).  In 2008, the WTO 
Secretariat also continued to collaborate with  the secretariats of multilateral environmental 
agreements (MEAs), a number of which have observer status in the CTE.   
64. In the area of market acces s, the WTO cooperates regularly with the World Customs 
Organization (WCO).  WTO staff follow the wo rk in the WCO on the Harmonized System (HS) 
classification nomenclature, both for the work of th e Market Access Committee as well as for that of 
the Information Technology Agreement (ITA).  Coope ration was recently useful in relation to the 
classification of "set top boxes" for the ITA Co mmittee, as well as for keeping the Committee on 
Information Technology11 abreast of the latest developments in the Harmonised System (HS) 
Nomenclature (with respect to the Information sector).   In the areas of customs valuation and rules of 
origin, WTO staff maintain cooperative relations  with the WCO Technical Committees on Rules of 
Origin and Customs Valuation to examine technica l questions with respect to these agreements, as 
well as to provide technical assistance activities.  W ith respect to trade facilitation, since 2005, WCO 
officials have participated in practically all WTO regional technical assistance activities.  In addition, 
the WCO is assisting with the execution of a co mprehensive needs assessment programme, jointly 
                                                      
9 Doha Ministerial Declaration (WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1), adopted on 14 November 2001; para. 6. 
10 UNEP is also invited to attend meetings of the Committee on Trade and Development on an ad-hoc 
meeting-by-meeting basis and has pending requests for observer status in the General Council and TRIPS Council. 
11 Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products.  WT/TF/COH/S/14 
 Page 15 
 
 
  designed and implemented by the WTO Secretariat and the so-called "Annex D" organizations (IMF, 
World Bank, OECD, WCO and UNCTAD). WCO officials regularly attend the meetings of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation. 
65. Similar active collaboration exist in the area of trade in services.  Under the cooperation 
agreement between the International Telecomm unication Union (ITU) and the WTO, the two 
organizations participate as observers in each othe r's meetings and collaborate at the staff level on 
activities such as research, publications, conferences a nd workshops.  In 2008, the Secretary-General 
of the ITU, along with the Director-General of the WTO, participated in the WTO Symposium on 
Telecommunications organized in Geneva to commemorate the 10
th anniversary of the agreement 
among WTO Members to open basic telecommunica tions services. Although no formal cooperation 
agreement binds the WTO and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in 2006, UNWTO gained 
ad hoc observer status in the Council for Trade in  Services (CTS).  The two organizations work 
closely together to coordinate positions on tourism- related trade policy issues.  This work currently 
includes presentations by WTO staff at UNWTO functions 2-3 times/year, and the review of documents and publications.  The Universal Postal Union (UPU) was granted ad hoc observer status 
in 2006 in the CTS.  The UPU, for its part, invites the WTO Secretariat to participate in its meetings, 
both formal and informal.  The Secretariats of th e two organizations regular ly consult on matters of 
interest to both organizations, including on Aid-for-Tra de. The Secretariat has also developed a useful 
working relationship with the Energy Charter Secr etariat, which allows a regular exchange of 
information on trade and energy issues.  The WTO Secretariat was invited on various occasions to 
attend meetings (Expert Meeting on Electricity, Trad e & Transit Group) and briefed participants on 
relevant energy-related WTO issues, in particular services.   
66. In the field of intellectual property, the WTO has, as called for by the TRIPS Agreement, a 
cooperation agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  During the course 
of 2008, periodical meetings between the two Secretaria ts continued to take place in particular in the 
area of technical cooperation.  During 2008, the WTO continued to be invited as an observer to WIPO 
meetings and WIPO has attended (as observer) meet ings of regular WTO bodies in which they have 
an interest, notably the TRIPS Council and the Ge neral Council.  The Secretariat also cooperates 
closely with the World Health Organization (W HO) on public health-related intellectual property 
matters, including by participating as observers in the WHO Intergovernmental Group on Public 
Health, Innovation and Intellectua l Property and in the WHO IMPACT initiative (International 
Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force), as well as in the field of technical cooperation.  
The WTO Secretariat also cooperat es with a range of other intergove rnmental organizations in the 
field of intellectual property, including the CBD, UNCTAD, UPOV, WCO and the World Bank, as 
well as some regional organizations such as ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property 
Organization) and OAPI (Organisation Afri caine de la Propriété Intellectuelle).  
67. With respect to the ILO, in addition to WTO S ecretariat attendance at meetings of the ILO's 
Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globali zation and other ILO initiatives, the last few year 
have seen collaborative research between the WTO's Economic Research and Statistics Division and 
the ILO's Institute for Labour Studies on the issue of the relationship between  trade and employment. 
A first joint output, a joint technical study entitled Trade and Employment: Challenges for Policy 
Research , was published in February 2007. Finally, in 2008 the WTO and the ILO have started 
working jointly on a report on trade and the informal  sector, and common work should be expanded in 
the future. 
68. Always with a view to assisting Members' global economic policies, the WTO Secretariat 
maintains considerable contacts a nd regular cooperation with other in tergovernmental organizations at 
staff level, in activities ranging from statistics, re search, standard-setting, and technical assistance and 
training.  The exchange of information on matters of  mutual interest is also part of this regular 
cooperation.  During 2008, the WTO Secretariat pursued technical exchanges with several WT/TF/COH/S/14 
Page 16  
 
  international organizations, including with UNDP , UNIDO, various UN Regional Commissions and 
Regional Development Banks, with a particularly in tense cooperation taking place in the context of 
the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. In November 2008, for example, the Director-General participated at a 
joint UNIDO-WTO Ministerial Conference on "Aid -for-Trade: An Industrial Agenda for Least-
Developed Countries", in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  A joint UNIDO-WTO Communiqué was issued and 
the Directors-General of the two organizations held a common press conference, highlighting the 
complementarity in their work. 
69. The WTO Secretariat also maintains regular cont acts with the OECD and attends meetings of 
relevance to trade. With respect to high level even ts, the Director-General attended and addressed the 
OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, in June 2008.  Th e OECD has a particularly important role in the 
Aid-for-Trade Initiative in the evaluation and mon itoring of aid (through the DAC).  The Trade and 
Capacity Building Data Base has been established by the WTO jointly with the OECD to provide 
information on trade-related technical assistance and capacity building projects.  It covers national as well as regional projects and is an on-going activity.   The data base establishes a consistent base of 
figures against which the evolution of aid in this ar ea can be assessed over time. In this vein, the WTO 
Secretariat continued its efforts with the OECD with  a view to selected a toolbox of indicators in line 
with both organizations' mandate to provide info rmation that will be used by Aid-for-Trade 
implementing partners in the context of the sch eduled 2009 Aid-for-Trade Global Review. The WTO 
and OECD Secretariat held a Symposium on Iden tifying Indicators for Monitoring Aid-for-Trade, 
opened by the Director-General, on 15-16 September, 2008. 
70. The WTO Secretariat participates in many ac tivities organized by the United Nations, its 
agencies and its programmes.  During 2008 the Direct or-General attended meetings of the UN Chief 
Executive's Board, and the WTO Secretariat was repre sented at senior level in the Board's subsidiary 
bodies as well as in coordination meetings of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).  The Director-General and members of senior manageme nt participated in the UN-sponsored Follow-up 
International Conference on Financing for Deve lopment in Doha, Qatar, on 29 November 2008, 
where he urged participants to "send a signal of  urgency in delivering on trade and on aid". 
71. Finally, in the context of the implementa tion of WTO Agreements and of the Doha Work 
Programme, the WTO cooperates on an ad hoc basi s with a large number of intergovernmental 
organizations, including many regional bodies.  Deve lopment is core to the current Doha Round and 
there is a growing recognition that part of the cha llenge lies in better cooperation and coordination of 
all international actors involved in trade-relate d activities.  In this context, in 2008 the  
Director-General met, or wrote to, on several  occasions the Heads of the IADB, the African 
Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the European 
Bank for Reconstruction and Devel opment, be it for Aid-for-Trade, cotton issues, other development 
issues, or trade finance.   
72. A strong multilateral trading system is one v itally important part of an emerging system of 
global governance, where trade, finance, deve lopment and many other policies are increasingly 
intertwined.  In 2008, the WTO has maintained its e fforts to ensure international coherence so that we 
can translate improvements in market access or in ne w trade disciplines into realities, in particular, for 
developing countries. The WTO is ready to lend its  experience and resources to strategic re-thinking 
about the architecture of global cooperation.  The process started under the G-20 strongly suggests that global governance after the crisis will no longer be the same as the pre-crisis, post-World War II 
model.  The debate launched on representation and the governance of some inter-governmental 
organizations, issues regarding the efficiency of global economic surveillance, and the treatment of 
gaps in the international architecture is only beginni ng.  It is to be hoped that these discussions will 
result in a different, more inclusive, better integr ated and better coordinated international system.  
__________