WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/54 
21 July 2005 
 (05-3235) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation  
  
 
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING 
ON TRADE FACILITATION 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
 
 
    
 
 
1. This Note updates information provided by the Secretariat in TN/TF/W/5.  It describes WTO 
technical assistance and capacity building activities on trade facilitation that are being carried out in 
2005 in collaboration with the IMF, OECD, UNCTAD,  WCO and World Bank.  At this stage, the 
activities are aimed at assisting developing countri es and LDCs to assess their trade facilitation needs 
and priorities and at enabling them to participate fu lly in the negotiations (Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the 
negotiating mandate).   
2. The Note responds also to the request by the Ch airman, following the informal meeting of the 
Negotiating Group that took place on 14 June, that the Secretariat provide background material for the 
Group's further discussions on enhancing technical assistance and support for capacity building on 
trade facilitation.  It addresses two issues that were ra ised at that meeting:  (i) how to assist Members 
to identify their trade facilitation needs and priori ties, on an individual, case-by-case basis, so as to 
prepare the ground for matching technical assistan ce and capacity building support with future 
disciplines that emerge from the negotiations;  and (i i)  how an inventory mi ght be developed for use 
in support of the negotia tions covering the following three ar eas:  current technical assistance and 
capacity-building support that is being provided on a country-by-country basis in the area of trade 
facilitation;  unmet needs and priorities of deve loping countries and LDCs for assistance and support 
to implement WTO disciplines that emerge from the results of the negotiations;  sources of expert 
assistance and support from developed-and deve loping-country Members and from regional and 
throughout multilateral organizations that can be made  available to help implement the results of the 
negotiations.   
I. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES IN 2005 
3. The Secretariat is implementing the programme of activities on trade facilitation that was set 
out in the Technical Assistance and Training Plan 2005 (WT/COMTD/W/133/Rev.2).  Its current status is shown in Anne x I.  It consists of: 
• Eight three-day regional workshops, in coopera tion with UNCTAD, the WCO, and the World 
Bank, as well as other regional inter-government al organizations.  For each Member, two 
capital-based officials – one from the trade ministry and one from customs – are invited by 
the WTO to participate in a workshop.  Sin ce June, financing from UNCTAD has enabled a 
number of Geneva-based delegates from the region concerned, as well as representatives from This document has been prepa red under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO TN/TF/W/54 
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 the region's private sectors, to participate in cer tain of the workshops.  Since June also, some 
of the workshops are being extended for two days to allow a practical exercise to be conducted with participants based on the Worl d Bank's Support Guide (TN/TF/W/51).  This 
exercise aims to assist participants, once they return to capitals, to work in a coordinated way 
with other relevant ministries and agencies as well as the private sector to assess proposals 
tabled at Negotiating Group meetings and provide  "real time" feedback to their Geneva-based 
negotiators.   
 
• Thirteen two-day national workshops for indi vidual developing countries and LDCs.  These 
are modelled on the regional workshops, and are conducted in response to written requests 
from Members and subject to the ava ilability of Secretariat resources. 
 
• Sessions dedicated to trade facilitation in the nine WTO Trade Policy Courses and two 
"Geneva Week" courses. 
 
• Resources permitting, it is the Secretariat's inte ntion to supplement the activities contained in 
the 2005 Plan with a technical assistance works hop in Geneva in the autumn for Geneva-
based delegates, based on the same programme that  is used at the regional seminars that are 
conducted for capital-based officials. 
 
4. This year, the World Bank has conducted three five-day pilot workshops  based on its Support 
Guide (TN/TF/W/51) at the national level in supp ort of the WTO negotiations, in Jamaica, Uganda 
and Sri Lanka.  These are aimed at assisting capital-based officials from all relevant ministries and agencies as well as the private s ector to undertake a coordinated self-assessment and analysis of their 
country's trade facilitation situation,  needs and priorities in the context of the WTO negotiations.  As a 
result of the workshops, Trade Facilitation Negotia tions Support Groups have been established in 
Kingston, Kampala and Colombo.  They are meeting as required to assess proposals that are tabled in 
Negotiating Group meetings, and providing their Gene va-based negotiators with technical support and 
advice related to the content of the negotiating ag enda.  Further workshops will be conducted by the 
World Bank later this year.  These activities have been considered particularly valuable by the 
governments of the countries concerned and by th e WTO Secretariat and World Bank staff.  They 
produce an intensive, well-focused training exercise involving all stakeholders at the national level, 
that is directly related to enhancing the capacity  of a developing-country or LDC Member government 
to participate effectively in the negotiations in Geneva.  The World Bank is planning to conduct a 
second-round activity with at least one of the three countries involved originally in the pilot projects, 
to reinforce the exercise and to assist officials to  address concerns related to the cost and technical 
assistance implications of proposed trade facilitation measures (Paragraph 4 of the Group's mandate).   
5. This type of country-by-country activity is  very resource-intensive, and none of the 
intergovernmental agencies involved has the mean s to offer to conduct the exercise for every 
developing country or LDC that might express an inter est in participating.  Subject to resources being 
made available, it would be possible to extend the process to additional countries.  In the meantime, 
however, the success of the pilot projects led the WTO, as noted above, to decide to extend the 
Secretariat's regional workshops by two-days so as to incorporate a similar exercise.  The first 
extended workshop of this kind was conducted for Central American countries in June.   
II. COORDINATION WITH OTHER RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL 
ORGANIZATIONS (PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE GROUP'S MANDATE) 
6. In addition to the coordination that takes pl ace among intergovernmental organizations in the 
implementation of the WTO's programme of techni cal assistance, steps being taken to enhance 
coordination were described in TN/TF/W/5.  TN/TF/W/54 
 Page 3 
 
 
 7. One of the vehicles used to enhance coordinati on is the  Global Partne rship for Transportation 
and Trade  (GFP), which groups together interested parties from international organizations, 
government agencies, and the private sector w ho want to cooperate to achieve significant 
improvements in trade and transport facilitation at  the multilateral level.  The GFP website is a 
valuable source of background materials and inform ation on trade facilitation (http://www.gfptt.org).  
The next biannual GFP meeting will be hosted by  UNCTAD in Geneva on 20 September 2005.   
III. ASSESSING NEEDS AND PRIORITIES 
8. In TN/TF/W/5, the Secretariat described a va riety of existing dia gnostic tools and other 
materials that can help Members to identify and assess their needs a nd priorities in the area of trade 
facilitation.  These include the WCO's Time Release Study  and its Customs Capacity Building 
Diagnostic Framework , from which the WCO has extracted a shortened version that is designed to be 
used as a self-assessment tool on customs by WTO Members (TN/TF/W/16).   
9. These diagnostic tools were generally designe d for purposes largely unrelated to the WTO 
negotiations.  They aim to assist governments to c onduct a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of 
their needs and priorities for t echnical assistance and capacity build ing support for trade facilitation 
defined broadly, covering not only customs but  also trade logistics and transportation. 
10. Now that the compilation of proposals tabled in the Negotiating Group has been prepared 
(TN/TF/W/43), it would be possible to devel op a new self-assessment questionnaire for use by 
Members to identify their needs and priorities that is shorter, simpler and targeted directly at the 
negotiating proposals, it being understood that this is without prejudice to whatever decisions may eventually be taken by Members on the results of the negotiations.  An extract from an example of a 
questionnaire drawn up in this way is provided in Annex II.  Although it is not yet known what future 
disciplines will emerge from the negotiations, the ques tionnaire could be used in a prospective way to 
prepare the ground for eventually matching techni cal assistance and capacity building support for 
implementation of those disciplines.  The Secretar iat, as well as other intergovernmental agencies 
with which it collaborates on trade facilitation, intend s to use this questionnaire in its own technical 
assistance activities from now on.  Copies can be provided  to interested delegati ons on request.  If the 
questionnaire results were to be returned by individua l Members to the Secretaria t, they could be used 
to help to identify important areas of trade facilita tion where a large number of developing countries 
may have common needs and priorities for assistance and support.   
IV. INVENTORY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING 
SUPPORT AND OF NEEDS AND PRIORITIES 
11. The best focal point for developing and maintain ing an inventory of technical assistance and 
capacity-building support on trade facilitation, and of i ndividual needs and priorities in this area, is the 
recipient developing country or LDC.  With regard to two of the objectives of an inventory that were 
mentioned in the Group's last meeting – what is  being done already, and what unmet needs and 
priorities exist – the questionnaire illustrated in A nnex II, used in conjunction with the kind of 
coordinated exercise involving all relevant government authorities and the private sector that is being 
carried out on a pilot basis by the World Bank (see paragraph 4) and that now figures regularly in the 
Secretariat's regional workshops, can prove a useful  starting point.  Members that wish to provide 
information on the results of such an exercise could do so via the Negotiating Group, which could then collate the results if it wanted to develop a collective inventory. 
12. Developing and maintaining a comprehensive and up-to-date inventory of technical assistance 
and capacity building activities on a multi-country basi s from the providers' standpoint is viewed by 
organizations with expertise in that area as a pa rticularly challenging task.  Even within one 
organization with a large number a nd wide range of trade facilitation-related activities – such as the TN/TF/W/54 
Page 4  
 
 World Bank – it is felt that it would be highly resource- intensive to try to collate fully information on 
past, current and planned activities that relate speci fically to the issues under negotiation in the WTO.  
The difficulties are multiplied when an  attempt is made to put together information on activities from 
several multilateral, regional and bilateral sources.  As noted in TN/TF/W/5,  one inventory of this 
kind that has been developed is the DDA trade cap acity building database that the WTO Secretariat 
maintains in collaboration with the OECD, which can be accessed by WTO Members on 
http://tcbdb.wto.org.  Keeping it up-to-date and genuinely comprehensive can be very resource-
intensive and, it would appear, can rarely be achie ved in a fully satisfactory manner.  Nonetheless, 
Members are encouraged to make use of this facility.   
13. A contribution to meeting the objectives sought by Members in this area could be the creation 
on the WTO Website of a section dedicated to Tec hnical Assistance and Capacity-Building in the 
context of the Trade Facilitation negotiations.  An ex ample is provided in Annex III.  With regard to 
the objectives of constructing an inventory of what  technical assistance and capacity building support 
is being provided already, and of sources of expert  assistance and support that can be made available 
to help implement the results of the negotiations , intergovernmental organisations and WTO Members 
(developed and developing) could be encouraged  to provide information on activities they are 
carrying out now, and would be willing to carry out in the future, multilaterally, regionally and 
bilaterally.  The information could be loaded in di rectly or provided through hyperlinks to other 
websites, including, for example, the WTO/OECD  DDA website and the GFP website mentioned 
above.  With regard to the objective of collating unm et needs and priorities, recipient countries could 
be encouraged to use the website to provide releva nt information, and to seek suitable matches with 
providers of technical assistance and capacity building support. 
 
____________ 
 
 
   TN/TF/W/54 
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 ANNEX 1 
 
Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building Activities on Trade Facilitation  
provided for in paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 of Annex D of the "July Package"  
 
2005 - 2006  
 
Activity  
Supplementary Activity Cooperation with Venue 
Regional Workshop for Arab and Middle 
East Countries  WCO, UNCTAD, 
ESCWA, World Bank United Arab Emirates 
(Abu Dhabi) 
13-15 March 
Regional Workshop on Trade Facilitation 
for Asia and Pacific Countries  WCO, UNCTAD, 
World Bank, APEC Secretariat, ASEAN 
Secretariat,  China (Hangzhou) 
5-7 April 
National Seminar  
 Mauritius (Port Louis) 
17-19 May 
Regional Workshop for Caribbean 
Countries  WCO, UNCTAD, 
World Bank Antigua (St. Johns) 
21-23 June 
Regional Seminar for Central American and Caribbean Countries  Workshop on World Bank 
Trade Facilitation Pilot 
Support Project WCO, UNCTAD, 
World Bank, SIECA Guatemala (Guatemala 
City) 
27 June – 1 July 
Regional Workshop for Central and Eastern European and Central Asian 
Countries  
WCO Bulgaria (Sofia) 
12-14 July 
National Seminar  
 Jordan (Amman) 
2-4 August 
Regional Seminar fo r Latin American 
Countries  Workshop on World Bank 
Trade Facilitation Pilot Support Project WCO, UNCTAD, 
World Bank, IADB-INTAL Argentina (Buenos Aires) 
8-12 August 
National Seminar  
 Ghana (Accra) 
25-26 August 
National Seminar  
 Myanmar (Rangoon) 
5-6 September 
Regional Workshop for Francophone Africa  Workshop on World Bank 
Trade Facilitation Pilot 
Support Project WCO, UNCTAD, 
World Bank, AfDB Tunisia (Tunis) 
12-16 September 
Regional Workshop for Anglophone Africa  Workshop on World Bank 
Trade Facilitation Pilot Support Project WCO, UNCTAD, 
World Bank, AfDB Namibia (Windhoek) 
10-14 October 
National Seminar  
 Zambia (Lusaka) 
October [date to be 
confirmed] 
 TN/TF/W/54 
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National Seminars (2005) for which dates ar e to be confirmed by the Secretariat
 
 Bolivia        C u b a         
E g y p t        
Honduras  Kenya M a l a w i       Mozambique 
Paraguay 
  National Seminars (2006) for which dates ar e to be confirmed by the Secretariat
 
 
Djibouti (COMESA)      
Papua New Guinea Indonesia  TN/TF/W/54 
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ANNEX 2 
 
Extract from Questionnaire  
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This questionnaire has been pr epared by the Secretariat for use by Members in order to assist 
them individually to assess their Trade Facilitation needs and priorities on a case-by-case basis. It has 
been designed to allow each Member to develop an  inventory of the propo sed facilitation measures 
that have been implemented already in its terr itory, to identify gaps where further facilitation 
measures could be taken, and to identify areas wh ere targeted technical assistance and/or capacity 
building support is needed and could be requested.  If Members wish, the Secretariat could eventually 
compile the results of completed questionnaires, wit hout attribution to the Member concerned, so as 
to provide the Negotiating Group as a whole with an ove rall picture of the needs and priorities in this 
area. 
 2. The questionnaire has been drawn up on th e basis of the Secretariat's compilation of 
suggested clarifications and improvements of the re levant GATT Articles that have been proposed by 
Members in the Negotiating Group (TN/TF/W/43/Rev.1).  As such, it is intended to complement more 
detailed diagnostic tools for assessing needs and prior ities that are available from other sources – such 
as UNCTAD, the World Bank and the World Customs Organization.
1  These tools should be 
consulted by Members who wish to carry out a mo re comprehensive analysis of their needs and 
priorities for assistance on trade facilitation issues more generally.  3. The questionnaire takes up the proposals as  compiled in document TN/TF/W/43/Rev.1.  
Questions aim at identifying existing rates of implementation and related technical assistance and 
capacity building needs in a preliminary fashion an d in approximate terms.  The description of the 
measures generally follows the headings of th e compilation paper, which should therefore be 
consulted when seeking additional information on the precise coverage of a given question.
2  Specific 
proposals with no room for corresponding action at the national level3 were excluded as not 
susceptible to the format of the qu estionnaire.  Some deviations from the compilation's headings were 
also made where they seemed too short to make the questions fully comprehensible.  Here, the 
questionnaire seeks to provide more clarity by addi ng further elements of the proposed measures. 
 4. The Secretariat has collaborated with UNC TAD, the World Bank and the World Customs 
Organization in preparing the questionnaire.  All of  the agencies are available on request to assist 
Members to complete the questionnaire and to pr ovide advice on any requests Members may have for 
follow-up technical assistance and capacity building.   
                                                     
 
1 These were described in TN/TF/W/5, paragraphs 14-25. 
2 When seeking the precise content of "Maintenance of Integrity Among Offici als", for instance, the 
corresponding section in document TN/TF/W/43/Rev.1 shou ld be consulted, clarifying that this measure is 
proposed to cover (i) the development of codes of conduct for staff of border agencies and (ii) the appointment 
of officials in charge of providing training to relevant officials.  
 3 Such as the proposal to " Clarify and improve the terminology [of Article V]  to reduce perceived 
uncertainty and avoid loopholes, for example with regard to the definition of goods (including baggage) ". 
 TN/TF/W/54 
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 II. QUESTIONNAIRE/INVENTORY 
1. Publication of Trade Regulations  
• Has such a measure already been implemented 
in your country/customs territory? 
• If that is not
 (or merely partially) the case, would you require technical 
assistance/capacity building-support for its implementation? 
• If that is the case, what would you require for its  implementation in terms of technical assistance 
and capacity building?......................................................................................................... ...............  
       ........................................................................................................................ ..................................... 
2. Publication of Penalty Provisions  
• Has such a measure already been implemented in 
your country/customs territory? 
• If that is not  (or merely partially) the case, would you require technical assistance 
capacity/building-support for its implementation?  
• If that is the case what would you require for its implementation in terms of technical assistance 
and capacity building? ........................................................................................................ ............. 
............................................................................................................................... ............................ 
 
3. Internet Publication of (i) Trade Regulations and (ii) of Requirements for Importing 
Goods 
• Has such a measure already been implemented in 
your country/customs territory? 
• If that is not  (or merely partially) the case, would you require technical assistance 
capacity/building-support for its implementation?  
• If that is the case what would you require for its implementation in terms of technical assistance 
and capacity building? ........................................................................................................ ............. 
............................................................................................................................... ............................ Yes, fully Yes, partially (specify) No 
   
Yes No 
  
Yes, fully  Yes, partially (specify) No 
   
Yes No 
  
Yes, fully  Yes, partially (specify) No 
   
Yes No 
   TN/TF/W/54 
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ANNEX 3 
  
Draft WTO Website on Technical Assistance and Capacity Building 
 
in the Context of the Negotiations  
  
Technical assistance and capacity building in the 
context of the negotiations   
Technical assistance and support for capaci ty building are essential elements of 
the WTO negotiations on Trade Facilitation and an integral part of Members' work 
in this area. Assistance is provided by  various stakeholders, including Member 
states, the WTO Secretariat and othe r intergovernmental organizations.  
The following section offers a forum for those partners to provide information 
about their respective activities and for re cipients to inform themselves about the 
work carried out in this field and to  provide information about their trade 
facilitation needs and priorities. It was se t up in response to Members' request for 
such information and complements the info rmation on Trade Facilitation-related 
technical cooperation activities contained in the WTO/OECD database  and listed 
on the website of the Global Facilitation Partnership for Transportation and Trade . 
The site will be updated and expanded upon  the receipt of additional information 
by the aid providers.  
 
> Consult the Guide to 
downloading files  
N.B. You should download these 
documents rather than calling 
them into view through the 
browser since the formatting may 
change (eg. paragraph numbering) 
when viewed through the browser.   
Technical Assistance and Ca pacity Building provided 
by WTO Members  back to top   
• European Communities  
o Document TN/TF/W/37 : Negotiating Group on 
Trade Facilitation — Communication from the European Communities — Technical Assistance and 
Support for Capacity Building 
 
o Contact Person 
    
• Japan  
o Document TN/TF/W/52 : Negotiating Group on 
Trade Facilitation — Communication from Japan — 
Trade facilitation: Technical Assistance activities of 
Japan   
o Contact Person 
     TN/TF/W/54 
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 • Country  Xxx  
o xxx  
o xxx  
Technical Assistance and Ca pacity Building provided 
by the WTO Secretariat  back to top  
contact person  
Activities  
   
Technical Assistance and Ca pacity Building provided 
by other International Organizations  back to top  
• World Bank  
contact person  
Activities  
    
• UNCTAD  
contact person  
Activities  
    
• WCO 
contact person  
Activities  
    
• OECD  
contact person  Activities  
  
  
• Other  
contact person  Activities   
  
 
Trade Facilitation Needs and Priorities  back to top  
• Country  Xxx  
o xxx  
Links to other relevant information  back to top   
http://www.gfptt.org  
 
__________