WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/AFT/W/12 
23 May 2006 
 (06-2504) 
Aid for Trade Task Force Original:   English/ 
                 Spanish                    
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM COLOMBIA, ECUADOR AND PERU 
  
 The following communication, dated 22 May 2006, is being circulated to the Aid for Trade Task Force at the request of the Permanent De legations of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.   
 
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THE AID FOR TRADE TASK FORCE 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Aid for Trade is not new.  OECD statistics s how that the share of Aid for Trade — in the 
broad sense of the term (capacity-building, trade-re lated infrastructure, and assistance in expanding 
productive capacity) — in total official developm ent aid has fluctuated between 21 per cent and 
24 per cent.
1 
2. Paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration marks the recognition that trade 
liberalization is a component of economic devel opment and that this liberalization must be 
accompanied by assistance to ensure that the deve loping countries can benefit from the new market 
opportunities created.  Hence the commitment in the Doha Work Programme to increase such 
assistance. 
3. The available statistics also show that Latin Amer ica, together with Oceania, is the region that 
has accounted for the smallest share of  Aid for Trade.  A reason for this is that aid funds available are 
in priority allocated to recipients other than La tin American countries.  This situation should be 
rectified with the implementati on of paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
Trade-Related Technical Assistance 
Trade Development (US$000) 
 
 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 * 
AFRICA 144,035 418,938 430,606 383,277 454,357 
LDCs 62,967 250,868 251,573 244,772 141,141 
ASIA 182,773 224,024 298,058 263,982 110,437 
EUROPE 121,683 184,274 232,302 182,373 85,473 
AMERICA, North and 
Central 17,509 68,875 71,216 130,700 80,021 
SOUTH AMERICA 22,628 50,276 62,594 68,337 51,870 
OCEANIA 7,578 18,853 23,909 15,414 12,118 
                                                      
1 "Aid for Trade:  Support for an Expanding Agenda".  Organization for Economic Co-operation and 
Development Trade Directorate,  Paris. 30-31 March 2006. WT/AFT/W/12 
Page 2  
 
  Source :  http://tcbdb.wto.org  *Partial data 
Trade Policy and Regulations 
Number of Entries 
 
 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 * 
AFRICA 337 571 602 620 258 
LDCs 297 401 502 472 233 
ASIA 585 700 760 639 184 
EUROPE 194 368 393 312 75 
AMERICA, North and 
Central 114 296 263 274 65 
SOUTH AMERICA 101 181 212 227 56 
OCEANIA 34 47 67 63 40 
Source :  http://tcbdb.wto.org  *Partial data 
 
II. SCOPE OF AID FOR TRADE 
4. There is no common definition of what is consid ered to be Aid for Trade by analysts and 
researchers and those that gather statistics from the donors. 
5. In any case, for the purposes of paragraph 57 it is essential to establish as clear as possible a 
distinction between what should be considered Aid for Trade and broader development policies. 
6. Paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial De claration describes the scope as helping to 
build supply-side capacity and trade-related infra structure to assist the countries concerned to 
implement and benefit from the WTO Agreements and more broadly to expand their trade. 
7. In the course of the ongoing negotiations, however , a number of other needs emerged.  The 
Aid for Trade Task Force should acknowledge this fact and extend the scope of paragraph 57 to 
include the traditional components of Aid for Trade as  well as other elements  identified in the Doha 
Round negotiations: 
• Trade-related technical assistance for capacity-building 
   Trade policy and regulations 
   Trade development 
   Participation in trade negotiations    Implementation of trade agreements. 
• Adjustment costs resulting from tariff elim ination commitments under the Doha Round. 
• Cost of implementation of WTO agreements. 
• Enhancement of entrepreneurial capacities to take advantage of market opportunities created 
by trade liberalization. 
• Support for institutions that contribute to e nhancing trade capacity, such as the Advisory 
Centre on WTO Law. 
 
8. The scope of aid for trade as defined above ma y include trade-related projects not directly 
linked to the Doha Development Programme or to the WTO, for instance, projects related to new 
opportunities that are the result of regional trade agreements.  WT/AFT/W/12 
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  III. AID FOR TRADE DELIVERY MECHANISMS 
9. Aid for Trade is currently delivered through several different channels. 
10. On the one hand, there are a number of multilate ral organizations that specialize in delivering 
Aid for Trade according to their r espective competences:  the WTO, the International Trade Centre, 
UNCTAD, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, UNIDO, and others. 
11. On the other hand, there are the multi-donor mechanisms and trust funds:  the Integrated 
Framework, the Integrated Aid for Trade Progra mme, the Standards and Trade Development Facility, 
the Global Facilitation Partnership for Transport an d Trade, the Doha Development Agenda Global 
Trust Fund, and others. 
12. At the regional level, there are developmen t banks that have created Aid for Trade 
mechanisms within their portfolios.   In Latin America, for example,  these include the Inter-American 
Development Bank, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, and the Andean 
Development Corporation. 
13. There are also a number of bilateral schemes, such as the Special Assistance Framework for 
Bananas, the assistance granted by USAID, the assistance granted by the EC to the ACP countries, the 
European Union's Special Action Plan for Suga r, the technical assistance provided by some 
developing countries to other developing countries, etc. 
14. Finally, non-governmental organizations and the private sector also supply a significant 
amount of Aid for Trade. 
15. In view of these circumstances, it would seem logical to use the existing institutional 
structures to channel Aid for Trade.  However, this  also requires a certain degree of coordination to 
enhance the efficiency and coherence of Ai d for Trade delivery at the global level. 
16. The WTO Director-General is faced with th e challenge of securing additional financial 
resources for Aid for Trade through grants and con cessional loans.  He will have to do this on a 
continuing basis. 
17. In pursuing his mandate, the Director-Gener al should focus his efforts on mobilizing 
additional resources to fund multilateral and regional efforts.  This would ensure that deserving 
countries are not excluded. 
18. In his efforts to secure funds, he should give pr iority to such needs as the creation of supply-
side capacity.  
IV. FORM OF DELIVERY OF AID FOR TRADE 
19. Below is a list of some of the criteria governing th e form that Aid for Trade should take in the 
context of paragraph 57 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration: 
• Normally it should consist of projects; 
• It should be demand-driven so that there can  be country ownership.  To that effect 
coordination among national authorities respons ible for development, international 
trade and public finance, is advisable; WT/AFT/W/12 
Page 4  
 
  • Aid for Trade suppliers should ensure that  the projects are adapted to the national 
development policies of the requesting count ries, and include the private sector as 
potential beneficiaries; 
• Delivery of Aid for Trade should be subj ect to close supervision on the project 
performance and the fulfillment  of its underlying purposes; 
• Since it is difficult to predict the impact  of the Doha Work Programme and because 
the assistance needs of countries can vary ov er time, countries should not be asked to 
make an ex ante assessment of their Aid for Trade needs; 
• The delivery of Aid for Trade should not be part of the single undertaking of the 
Doha Work Programme. 
 
V. ADMINISTRATION AND COORDINATION OF AID FOR TRADE 
• The form of administration of each one of the existing Aid for Trade delivery 
mechanisms should be respected. 
• The Paris Declaration on the effectiveness of aid, with its progress indicators, is a 
readily available instrument that can be u sed by the donor countries, the multilateral 
and regional agencies, and the other aid suppliers to ensure the maximum effectiveness of their aid. 
• The creation of a consultative group made up of members from the most 
representative Aid for Trade organizations is recommended in order to conduct a periodic evaluation of the Aid for Trade delivered and to draw up recommendations with a view to enhancing the effici ency and coherence of such aid. 
• On the basis of its evaluations, the cons ultative group will make recommendations for 
the harmonization of the form of delive ry of Aid for Trade and on coordination 
among delivery mechanisms to ensure that  they cover all eligible projects. 
• The adoption of a classification system of Aid for Trade for statistical purposes is 
recommended in order to facilitate its evalua tion in the context of the implementation 
of paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
• The operation of a database is recommended in  order to record Aid for Trade flows in 
connection with the implementation of pa ragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration. 
 
VI. ROLE OF THE WTO 
• The WTO Secretariat will act as the te chnical secretariat for the proposed 
consultative group; 
• The consultative group will report to th e Committee on Trade and Development; 
• Trade Policy Reviews conducted by the WTO should include an evaluation of Aid for 
Trade in each case. 
 
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